Raised
by Demonic Host
Summary: When the Kekkai barrier went down, no one could could predict the impact it was going to have on one girl in particular. She woke to a world much different than the one she left; one where she was told that everyone she had loved died. Turns out it wasn't true but now she has to decide if her desire for home outweighs the life her 'family' have built for themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**Raised**

 ** _Chapter One_**

A young woman, who went by the alias of Piper, smiled as she moved down from the hill. There was a playful and bubbly spirit showing in her every step. The small field below the hill was covered in barbs to form a grid of destruction that most people would never be able to see. She weaved through them not with ease persay but with years of practice, her body moving much like a dancer swaying to the music. The crackle of energy sounded off behind her as others attempted to follow. The splatter of blood being atomized before it even got to her. It was unfortunate that the people had chosen to follow this woman because it meant that their lives were going to be in vain.

Once she got to the end of the field she stopped and looked back. Just as she thought. Not a body left to try and pursue her anymore. Their blood and spirit energy was left to water the garden, quite literally. It was a pity that they had a die for her to see this once more.

Still, Piper couldn't help but feel that it was going to be nice to go home.

Within minutes the landscape transformed from barbs and thick, snaking vines to beautiful human sized flowers. They looked like something straight out of a tropical paradise mixed with some unearthly dream. Which was made even sweeter by the attractive smell that spilled from their centers - a deadly trap for those foolish enough to think they were simply sweet flowers.

The fact that such beauty was brought about by so much suffering was truly frightening.

Piper stared out at the flowers as they wiggled and stretched under Demon World's sun. Seeing the plants like this was enough to still her giddy spirit into something much deeper. It was like a feeling had gripped her heart with such ferocity that fidgeting or even smiling was too much of a movement. It wasn't painful, in fact she would have to say that it was the best feeling in the world. She was going _home_.

* * *

Koenma stared at the screen as he sucked on his pacifiers in worry. What he saw on the screen worried him beyond reason. He could see all the different colors splashed on the flowers and even the blood as it soaked into the ground. Those flowers had not bloomed in nearly twenty-five years. That wasn't a lot of time as far as he was concerned but it's appearance once more, the manner in which it was brought about, was what he was concerned about. A lot of his father's men had gone into that field hunting what they thought was a threat to the world's shaky security.

If they had the Kekkai barrier still up then maybe Koenma wouldn't feel so stressed out about this event. As it was, they didn't have that fall back. If this threat, whatever or whoever it was, decided to try and cross into the human world the only thing that Spirit World had to stop that from happening was man power. Which had already proved ineffective.

"George rewind the tape."

"But sir, you have the remote control," the blue ogre said as he stared at the Prince with confusion.

Koenma jumped out from the seat of his desk. "I'm trying to figure out how to stop a murderous demon from getting loose in the human world! On top of all this paperwork! If I tell you to rewind the clip for me, Ogre, you will rewind it for me! Or I will have you lined up for punishment, do you understand?!"

No one could say that Koenma had a weak pair of lungs on him from the decimals his voice could get up to. Knowing that Koenma would make good on his threat, George hurried over and grabbed the remote. He rewinded to the part right before the group of people were torn to shreds by the shrubs.

When the saw what had come right before that...Koenma's binkie fell out of his mouth.

"This...this is impossible!" Koenma said with wide eyes.

"Sir?"

"She can't be alive! She just can't be! She has to have been dead already! The barrier is gone Ogre, do you know what this means?"

George watched the Prince of Spirit World go red in the face as he popped his binkie back into place. He really had no idea what it meant. Only that the young woman on the screen looked human enough to him with rusty colored brown hair and fair skin. The thing that got to him was the eyes - they were what gave away the fact that she wasn't as fully human as she appeared. He'd never seen a human with purple eyes before.

"Ogre! Get Botan! Get Botan now!"

"Right away sir," George was only too happy to comply with that order.

Once he'd gotten the blue haired grim reaper, Koenma proceeded to talk at an unusual high and fast pace. It wasn't until Botan got him to repeat what he was saying for the fourth time that any of it was understandable.

Botan's lips pursed together as she raised a finger to her lips. "You want _me_ to get Urameshi, Sir?"

"But sir! You said that the old team should never be-" the poor guy couldn't catch a break as a stamp was thrown at his head.

"I know what I _said_ ," Koenma snapped as he sucked on the pacifier with worry. "But this is serious. We need all the help we can get locating this girl and hopefully taking her down…"

"Is she that much of a threat sir?"

Koenma nodded solemnly as his eyes fixated on her image upon the screen. If he could do this before his Father found out then everyone was going to be a whole lot safer...


	2. Chapter 2

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Two**_

The entrance to the hideout was hidden, just as it always had been. Underneath one of the large rocks, large enough to be a small plateau really, was a hole. It was surrounded by spiky bushes on three sides, four if someone counted the 'roof' it provided, and the rock on the other side. The bushes continued on around the rock for a bit, looping out every so often to form rings as to make this particular one look inconspicuous. The entrance itself was nothing special either. It looked as though it had been dug out by a giant wormhole or something, well if anyone could see it without the bushes. As it was, Piper had to hold back the spiky bush while jumping into the hole. Her body prepared for the landing on the ground below, some of the impact being absorbed by the sand pit at the bottom.

She slowly drudged her feet back up through the foot deep soft sand pit until she was standing on the top. The cave was dark, no lighting anywhere, and it was silent as a grave. The young brunette moved down one of the hallways, though really it was more like a crack large enough to let people through, and went from muscle memory to where the main chamber should be. Once she got to the chamber she stopped dead in her tracks.

It felt weird in here. Abandoned. Empty.

Trying to shake the feeling off Piper slowly stepped through the room, the one she knew like the back of her own hand, until she able to find a torch. It was rudimentary, sure, but it would have to do. It took her a while to light it with one of the new devices that she had learned about on her way there. They called it a lighter because it produced flame from friction and gas but her fingers had barely used the thing before so her attempt was clumsy. But once she got the flame to sustain itself, lighting the dried pitch on the torch was easy.

Piper put the lighter back away in one of her leather pouches as the warm glow of the fire gave the barest of lighting to the room. Having just come in from the sun and quickly navigating herself in the dark from memory, it took a while for her eyes to be able to see anything still. The room wasn't exactly large but other than the singular torch she placed in it's holder, there wasn't anything else casting light. Which meant that as Piper moved along the piles of pillows and rugs in the center of the room, she could barely make out the intricate designs on the fabric. Though she was able to feel the layers of dust coating each piece.

Reaching down to feel just how dirty the pillows had become, Piper frowned heavily as her heart clenched painfully in her chest. This place had been a safe haven and it was used often. In fact, it was the very place where she had lived most of her staggered life. So to see it in such disuse broke her heart.

"Where is everyone?" The young woman's voice was a mere whisper, but amidst the silence it felt deafening.

Slowly she moved back to the torch and pulled it out of it's slot. With the fire held away from her body and to the side so she wasn't actually staring at it, Piper continued with her exploration. If the room could have been considered having a corner, that was where she went. It was almost a trick of the eye considering how the rock and dirt met one another but there was an opening there that led her down another passageway. Piper moved down into the earth a bit more, twisting and turning as she followed what seemed like a natural break in the earth. There were turn offs every so often which would ultimately form a confusing maze for anyone who did not know their way.

When Piper found the room she was looking for, her heart sank further. It was her old room. It was still filled with all her old things. The bed, however, was not how she remembered leaving it. Her pillows were almost as though someone had cuddled with them before ultimately deciding to get up and never come back again. It wasn't the only thing that showed signs of having been moved. Many of her leather bound journals had been ever so gently used and organized. Piper knew just who had organized it too because no one else would have taken the time to do that. No one else would have read her things either.

The young woman knew that the invasion of privacy should make her angry. But as she stared at her old things Piper couldn't help but feel the crushing weight of how many years must have passed since anyone had been in this room. It was around five hundred years if what she had picked up had been correct. She didn't want it to have been but the more she saw of this forgotten place, the more the truth started to sink in.

Piper moved over to her bed. Unlike the gathering main area a while back, this didn't have nearly as much dust on it. Probably because the walls, including ceiling and floor, were made of stone and not a compilation of dirt and stone. There were tapestries hanging from the stone walls, making it looks as though she was surrounded in richly colored fabric, and rugs lining the floor. It gave the room a very inviting feel if it wasn't for the fact that it felt so utterly neglected. Piper ran her hand along the old pillows and blankets before stopping to pick up a singular, exceptionally long translucent piece of hair.

Bitterly she smiled as she looked at the hair glimmering in the torchlight. If it really had been five hundred years since she was last awake then it was no wonder that this place was abandoned. That way everyone was protected just incase Spirit World had eked something out of her head while they held her in her coma state. It didn't make Piper feel any better to know the logistics behind the move but at least she could understand why this place had been abandoned.

She sat down on her bed and allowed the weight of the situation to hit her. It felt like hundred of gallons of water slamming into her from all sides. She was drowning and floating all at the same time, unable to move without feeling completely swamped. Five hundred years…

Then again, what was five hundred years really?

...okay, so it was a lot to a human but the people she grew up with weren't human. Not in the slightest; Piper wasn't either, not really. She might have been at some point but everything over the course of her life had seen to that being changed up.

Still - five hundred years…

The brunette couldn't help but wonder where everyone was.

Piper curled into the pillow blockade. She had been so happy, so hopeful, on her way to this place. Now that she found it this empty there wasn't a single part of her that didn't ache. The emptiness was seeping in and she really wished it wouldn't.

Suddenly the exhaustion of her day set in and she found herself drifting off to sleep. Which was funny because she would have thought that five hundred years asleep would have been enough as it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter three**_

Yusuke looked over his shoulder when he heard the door to the restaurant open up. He put the oversized chopsticks down and wiped his hands on his apron. He was kind of surprised when he saw who had just walked into the restaurant. Botan wasn't exactly the person he expected to see after they'd split off from Spirit World's service.

"Hey Botan," Yusuke greeted in his usual informal way.

Botan smiled widely when she saw him. "Long time no see! How are you and Keiko doing?"

"We're doing alright," The young adult answered. "You didn't come here for pleasantries. What did you want?"

Yusuke had never really been one to beat around the bush. In fact,it was one of his better qualities as far as Botan was concerned. At least when it wasn't directed at her. Botan's face morphed into one of pure innocence as she looked at Yusuke.

"Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" Botan responded.

She tried not to look around the small family restaurant but she could still feel all the people around her. She wouldn't be a good Grim Reaper if she couldn't feel all the souls.

"No 'hi, how are you?' or 'it's good to see you too Botan'!" The blue haired woman said as she did her best to imitate what he could have sounded like.

Yusuke rolled his eyes as he pulled the apron off. "Fine. It's good to see you too Botan. How are you? -Don't answer that. Just cut to the chase."

"Yusuke!" Another woman's voice called out in reprimand.

The former spirit detective looked over to the entrance of the cooking area as Keiko pushed her way past the split fabric divider. He gave a small wave but she Keiko just gave him a withering look. She moved passed him without saying anything to tie on an apron herself and picked up the cooking which Yusuke had been neglecting. Once she was sure it wasn't going to burn, she nudged Yusuke with her elbow.

"Go catch up with Botan upstairs. I can handle the restaurant for a while," Keiko said in a calm voice.

"Sure, sure. It'll be just like old times I'm sure," Yusuke said with a dry sort of humor.

As he walked through the doorway that Keiko had just emerged from, he motioned for Botan to follow him. She hurried after by going through the doorway in the dining area, passing by the toilet room and following up the stairs after him. Once they got up to the Yukimura's living area, Yusuke led her into what was undoubtedly Keiko's bedroom. Although from the looks of it, Yusuke had made himself comfortable in there too.

"Yusuke you naughty boy," Botan said with a catlike grin. "Staying in Keiko's room like this. What would your mom say?"

Yusuke's face lit up like a firework as he spun on her. "Gheese Botan! Stop treating me like I'm doing something wrong. Nothing's happened!"

She grinned as she leaned forward. "Oh really? Then why is your stuff in here, hmm?"

"Because I stay over when I help close up. It's easier for Keiko so she can focus on her school work," Yusuke said as he sat down on the bed. "Now, stop trying to distract me. Tell me what pacifier breath wants."

"Who said Prince Koenma wants anything?" Botan asked as she fiddled with the sleeves of her pink kimono.

He just stared at her as he leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. The look in his eyes narrowed and Botan could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. She laughed nervously before taking a deep breath.

"Alright, so he did ask that I come and get you. But I'm sure he has a good reason!"

"Tch," Yusuke's response was simple and in disbelief of her assertion.

"Would he call you if it wasn't?"

"Was that a real question?" the young man tossed back.

Her arms spread open wide expressively. "You know that's not true, Yusuke! He's done nothing but left you and your friends alone! Besides, aren't you the least bit curious about what could have been so important that he decided to ask you for a favor and not just send in a team from Spirit World?"

Yusuke simply stood up and crabbed his coat from the back of Keiko's computer chair. "Alright, you got me. Let's go see the Toddler."

* * *

Groggily Piper opened her eyes. The torch had long since burned out so all she saw was pretty much what she had seen prior to opening her eyes - darkness. Her body felt like it had been weighed down by at least a hundred more pounds as she got up out of bed. Waking up alone only reinforced everything she had heard before coming to this place.

Piper stood up and fixed her hair, which had gotten kind of messy from the nap. After she tied her hair back up, something glimmering caught her attention. The seemingly young woman couldn't see exactly what it was in the dark but there was something in her mind, like it was constantly on the edge of her vision. She moved over to a small clothing trunk, the one with the pieces she'd gotten as gifts. Her hands deftly opened it up and sorted through, trying to recall what each piece was from her sense of touch alone.

A smile touched her lips as she slowly sorted through the pieces, recalling what some of them were and the memories they brought back. These were the pieces she was given on special occasion. It might have been a scarf or a certain shirt but each piece was definitely special. And then her hand ran into something that she wasn't familiar with. Carefully Piper pulled the item out. It was a small silk purse with what felt like a necklace inside of it. This was definitely not something she remembered having.

She snapped the clip open to feel at what was inside. After all, she still couldn't even see the end of her nose. What Piper could do was feel what was in her hands. Not to mention the tickle on her spiritual awareness. It was a funny thing because what she was sensing from whatever was inside of the purse was different than anything she was used to. Like a sense that had decided to heighten itself until all the familiar things became unfamiliar.

Once the woman slipped the item out of the purse she finally realized what it was. The pendent weighed in her hand and she went very cold as she realized what it was. Kuronue's pendant. Though she couldn't see it with her eyes she could visual the blood red stone in the middle giving the water-like gleam as she ran her thumb over the stone. The metal alloy that made the setting would be matte in comparison to the stone. What was far more interesting, however, was that as she brushed her thumb along it she felt heat. It was like somehow it was being heated from the inside out and she had no idea if that was what was really happening or if it was her imagination.

With a vague idea of what was happening, Piper stood up. Slowly she slipped the necklace over her head and made sure it was secure before closing the trunk back up. Getting out of her room was done by memory. For Piper, it was just like walking through her house in the dark like any other person was able to do. It was just that her house wasn't what most people would have considered such as it was a series of connected cracks and tunnels underneath as well as inside of a plateau.

Once the brunette was out of the dark and had managed to squeeze through the plants, she rested against the rock. Pulling the pendant up to her face she stared at it. The funny thing was that she could feel something staring back at her. It wasn't much, just a shadow of a person, but even that made the young woman smile. Kuronue was truly crazy but this was unbelievable. A piece of his essence and his soul were in the gem. No _wonder_ he would never leave it behind anywhere. It was like separating himself into parts. Yet that very separation would stop a true death from him. Crazy and smart.

Piper had to wonder how it was that she'd never noticed this before. Did he do it after she slipped into her Spirit World imposed coma? Or was it because she'd just, more or less, woken up from a form of death herself that she could sense the fraction of his soul clinging to this pendant? Somehow Piper didn't think she was ever going to find an answer to that…

Biting her bottom lip, Piper slipped the pendant down between the two layers of her top as though that was going to protect the fraction of the soul inside. If it really was his way of clinging onto life then there must have been a way to truly bring him back. She had long ago learned that nothing was truly impossible. In fact, claiming that something was impossible seemed the sure fired way to be proved wrong. So yes, she was going to find a way to bring him back. Even if it took a lot of work it would be worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter four**_

There were plenty of productive things that Piper could have been doing with her time. Researching the pendant in order to try to figure out how to bring back Kuronue for one. Or hitting up the local town and listen around to some demons to see what had happened since Spirit World had put her into a coma. There was even all the new dominating languages of the world that she could set her mind to learning. All of those would have been a good use of the woman's time. Which meant that, of course, she hadn't touched a single one.

Ever since she had found Kuronue's pendant she had been out of sorts. Oh, Piper swore that she'd find a way to bring him back. That was never in question. It was just the fact that she had been gone so very _long_ that everything was a bit overwhelming. When she had gone into town people spoke in dialects that she had never heard before, using forms that were quite strange and words that didn't even make sense. It was just one of the ways that the time she'd missed had been reinforced. Now that's where the whole learning the new languages should have come into place. After all, that's what Piper had been train to do. It's what she _should_ have done. But did she? Nope. Instead, Piper just hurried out of the area feeling rather ill.

At some point on the journey back to the only home she could remember, Piper realized that it was severely lacking in supplies. Namely torches, candles, or oil lamps. There was also a lack of people to help her beat the dust out of all the fabric in the den. After sitting on it's own for the last five hundred years she was sure that there was no way she could clean any of it.

Which had led to what she'd _actually_ been doing. It had taken a while considering that she had to find a cart and carry everything in different loads but Piper finally gathered up all the dirty-beyond-saving material. Of course nothing in her room had been touched as it had been one of the few places that she felt confident that she could clean. But pretty much everything else had been hauled away from the hideout and brought miles upon miles away. Once it was all stacked Piper lit it on fire. Her eyes went to the smoke as it drifted into the air. The scent of decay and dust as present as the memories that swirled in her mind like a dizzying roller coaster.

Once the fire burned to the point that Piper was sure it wasn't going to stop until all the fabric was gone, she headed back to the hideout. The fire raged and burned everything it touched as she walked away, feeling the heat on her back. Eventually it would stop. Most likely when it burned everything it could find. Considering that she'd lit the fire in an area with just a lot of stone and dirt, it probably wouldn't cause any damage to the area. Not to mention the fire, well smoke really, wouldn't lead anyone back to the hideout as she'd taken it miles away.

That was how much of her time was spent. By the end of all that work Piper was completely and utterly drained. The brunette sat against the a plant covered formation and let out a long, deep breath, her body pretty much collapsing in on itself. There were aches in places she sure she'd never gotten before. It wasn't surprising really; this was the most active she'd been in centuries. Then to add ontop of that there was the fact that her body was still mostly human it was no wonder that she felt so exhausted.

To make matters worse you were pretty sure that if you tried getting back down into the hideout with how tired you were, there was a chance you were going to land wrong and break something. Which would have been extremely unfortunate. Instead you settled to rest against the greenery and rock. You doubted many demons or apparitions would wonder out this far.

As the sun fell her eyes grew heavier and heavier until they closed entirely. Piper's breathing slowed and deepened and any muscle which hadn't been before completely relaxed. Sleep mixed with the night like old friends. In the comfort, or denial depending on the point of view, of the surroundings she slept peacefully. She didn't stir throughout the length of the night, not even when strong arms picked her up and carried her to her bed.

In fact, there was even a moment upon waking up that the languid behavior continued. Followed then by disorientation. Piper knew then that, with a vague sort of clarity, she had not gone to sleep in her bed. Yet she had woken up in it. The confusion bloomed into hope. Only for that hope to be pricked with fear as she realized there was no familiar warmth beside her. No feeling of a tail wrapped over her hip, nor breath upon her skin. Least of all a heartbeat, slow as it would have been.

There was, however, the _sound_ of someone breathing. It was what pushed her foggy mind into a state of panic. The sound of a voice in the darkness of the woman's room didn't help, though it did spur her into reaching for the knife tucked away.

"I hope you do not mind that I decided to start without you," the voice called out as he sat down a cup of tea.

It was deep and confident though not at all threatening. Which probably meant that the man who spoke was more dangerous because of that. Piper knew that any person who could sound so casual had a reason to be, at least in this realm.

"You can relax. I am not here to hurt you," the man spoke out. "In fact, you could say I am here to do just the opposite."

"Who are you?" She asked instantly.

There was a weariness in her voice that she didn't care if he picked up on or not. This man was already at an advantage. He was speaking in a language and dialogue that she knew, which meant that he knew about her. Meanwhile Piper couldn't even see who he was as there were no torches or candles lit. The room was in complete darkness and she didn't have the senses of a demon, which this man definitely was. She might not be able to see him but she could still sense that much about him. He was a demon and a strong one; his energy was like a warning sign on her skin like cold silk. One wrong move and it could twist around her neck with deadly purpose.

"You do not remember?"

That question set Piper on edge. The old leather strips seemed to hiss under her grip as she held on to the hilt tighter. It was his laughter, short and filled with a sort of humor that she wasn't sure of.

"No, I do not suppose you would. It has been almost a thousand years since we saw one another."

She closed her eyes and focused. It wasn't like the woman could see anything in the dark anyways. So if he decided to attack she was going to have to evade but that was only if she knew where he was attacking from. Not to mention if he really was more than a thousand years old as he alluded to, more than likely he was faster than she could hope to be. Which was not a comforting thought. Probably ranked right up there with the fact that he seemed to be so familiar with her while Piper continued to racked her brain to try and figure out who he was.

"It will be another thousand years till I see you if we remain in this darkness," she commented back, doing her best to keep the aggravation from her voice.

"Ah how forgetful of me. Shura, come in here son."

Piper waited, quite literally on the edge of her bed, to see who or what was really being called in. It took a few minutes but soon the warm glow of fire turned around the rock corner and lead into her room. Until that happened she had no idea that the doors to her private chamber had been open the whole time. Though the chestnut haired woman wasn't sure if knowing would have helped anyways. What did help was the torch that the small person, a child she realized, brought in with them.

When she looked upon the face of this Shura, a sudden wave of deja'vu hit her. Then her eyes traveled over to the man who had been attempting to hold a conversation. With a sick, twisted feeling in her gut her mind finally plugged in who it was. Yomi certainly had grown into his own person since last she saw him. Considering that she had been asleep for five hundred years it had been a millenia for him, but half of that for Piper herself. By all that she held holy, she'd never expected to see him again. Especially with so many ears and horns!

"So you do remember me."

"How could I forget?"

Even with the torch light just barely lighting the room up, Piper could see how the smirk formed on his face. She bit her lip and held back from correcting herself - because she, in a way, had forgotten.

"In my defense, you sound a lot different than you used to," was the compromise that her tongue made between pride and the truth.

The boy said something in a way that she couldn't quite understand. It was like hearing a song underwater - knowing that she should know it yet being unable to really comprehend what was being said. Yomi responded in kind and as Piper watched the young boy's eyes widen she realized something very strange. Shura, the torch bearing child, was Yomi's _son_. Suddenly the weight of all those years lost to the world started to crush her again.

"You had a child? Where is his mother?"

Curiosity had always been a bit of a downfall for her. Though in this moment it seemed to amuse her 'guests' more than anything.

"Oh, he has no mother."

"Did she die?" That was the next question she lobbied at Yomi.

He shook his head, the motion no doubt exaggerated for her benefit so that she could easily see it.

"I had him created."

"...so he is not yours?"

The boy said something which, judging by the lessening of an amused expression on Yomi's face, was probably insulting. Then there was also the tone he said it with and his own facial expression.

"You will have to forgive my son. He is still very young."

"As long as you will both forgive me. I have not had time to acquaint myself with the modern languages and dialects of this...new world," she struggled to find a way to put it.

Piper knew she wasn't actually in a new world. She had just been in a coma for so long that it might as well have been. Everyone she knew and loved was gone. How that was possible she weren't entirely sure, she just knew that they were. Not only that but everything seemed to have changed. Demons and apparitions spoke in different tongues that she couldn't understand. The home in which she enjoyed for years had been left to collect dust. Now an old friend came back into the picture but he was drastically different than the one that Piper remembered. He was older, more powerful by far, and far more mature than she had ever seen him. Not to mention he was a _father_ now.

Yomi stood up and held his hand out to the young woman. She stared at the pale flesh, tinted by the fire in Shura's hands, for a moment before grasping it. He helped her stand up despite the fact that she did not actually need the help. It wasn't like she was in a constricting formal outfit or anything.

"Then maybe we can help one another. What do you say?"

"We can try," Piper accepted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Five**_

Yusuke stared at the screen in front of him in disbelief. The scene before him was _unbelievable_. Not that anything unbelieve was happening from what he could see. In fact, the spirit world cameras (which, by the way, he now had a new appreciation for how creepy spirit world really was) showed him what could be described as an everyday scene. The only thing stopping him from saying that it was just a normal scene was that was that Yomi, yes the same Yomi he'd challenged a few years ago, was walking with a human. Last time he checked Yomi _ate_ humans, he didn't stroll around with them like they were old friends. What was really unbelievable was the toddler behind him.

"Are you kidding me?" Yusuke spoke out in a hushed voice. " _This_ is the chick you're afraid of? She's nothing! I'd be more afraid that Yomi is walking her into an all you can eat buffet, and she's on the menu. She is human right?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Yusuke prompted again: "Right?"

Koenma finally snapped out of his stupor, making a popping noise with the mafuken (it still looked like a binkie to him). "Technically…"

"So why haven't you sent Hiei after her? He's _supposed_ to be guarding the edges and bringing lost humans back to human world."

"Well you see…" Koenma cleared his throat trying to stall.

"Spit it out already."

"She's dangerous!" Koenma finally spoke up, his voice squeaking as he slammed his hands onto the desk.

Yusuke stared him and laughed. "Her? Dangerous? You've got to be kidding me. Her spirit levels are minimal at best and she hasn't even noticed your stupid cameras. If I didn't know any better I wouldn't even think she knew about demons or spirit world. Hell, her clothes make her look like a loon!"

The former spirit detective turned his attention back to the screen. Really, he'd seen stranger things being worn before but not by too much. Especially considering the fact that the girl he was seeing was a human. It looked so out of date it was practically ancient. And there was something about the outfit that looked _way_ too familiar to be random. Like, he'd seen it somewhere before. The pants were tapered at the ankles and around the high waistline while the shirt, long enough to be a dress, slit on both sides with a tigh around the middle and a folded, V neckline. Seriously, it was pretty weird to see on a human girl

"Yomi's practically leading her by the nose," Yusuke grumbled. "Seriously, you need to get her out of there. If anything him hanging out with her is just plain creepy."

"You have no clue who she-you know what, that's not important!" Koenma said as he tried to settle back down behind his desk.

"Oh yeah? Then what is pacifier breath?"

Koenma sighed - to think he had missed Yusuke. He sucked hard on the mafuken as he crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair. It was hard to describe to Yusuke why Piper was so dangerous without making the events sound wrong. After everything that Yusuke had been through, Koenma was aware that he didn't have the best views of Spirit World. The prince of spirit world couldn't blame him. After all the crap that his father Enma had pulled to gain and keep power...well Koenma was still trying to dig through all of it and right his father's wrongs as best he could.

She was one of those wrongs that he was _not_ prepared to deal with much less try and justify to Yusuke.

"Its her abilities...and her connections that I'm worried about," the 'young' ruler tried to explain.

Yusuke, however, had known the junior ruler of spirit long enough to know when he was holding out on him. And just like all the times before it was starting to piss him off. It was so like Koenma to want him to take on a mission without giving him _all_ the information. Like it was so important that Koenma saved face that he would send people in blind. Well, Yusuke was done with it. He wasn't really a spirit detective anymore and he'd only come here as a favor.

"What about her abilities?" Yusuke snapped. His hand flashed over to the screen where he could see her and Yomi sitting down for tea of all things. _Tea_. God that creeped him out. "What is it? What's so dangerous about her?"

"She's a medium."

"Yeah, sure. A medium. What's that?"

Koenma practically fell out of his desk. "A medium Yusuke! She can channel things."

"So like a psychic?"

Yusuke really didn't get what Koenma was so worried about. He'd dealt with a lot of psychics before and they were all so much more intimidating than the one he saw on the screen. Hell, grandma was more intimidating than Piper was. Then again, Genkai scared more than half of demon world in her prime. And he was man enough to admit that she scared him when she was pissed too. She got creative when she was pissed.

"In a way," Koenma said in a resigned tone. He shifted in his seat uncomfortable. "Mediums are humans who are supernaturally sensitive—"

"So she's like Kuwabara."

Red filled Koenma's face at being interrupted. Oh, this was something he didn't miss about Yusuke in the least. "If you'll let me finish you'll see she's nothing like Kuwabara! _She's_ dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Yusuke grumbled as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Their body becomes a gateway between the living world and the spirit world. They also don't rely on just their own spirit energy. They can channel, manipulate, and absorb the energy of others."

"So she's a big vacuum, what's the big deal?" Yusuke prompted and then he leaned forward, a critical look in his eyes. "Oh, I get it. You did something to piss her off. What was it?"

Yusuke hit it too close to the mark for Koenma. The young prince squirmed in his seat.

"It's not that simple Yusuke!"

"Damn, it must have been something really bad, I haven't seem you squirm this much in a long while," the former punk let out a low whistle. "So what was it? Kicked her dog?"

The sound of the door opening up was one of the last indications that Yusuke got that someone was entering. He might not be practicing nearly as much as he had when he'd been the spirit detective but he wasn't off his game. He could still sense Kurama's spirit energy before the redhead even entered the room. Not to mention with the demon senses everything was turned up a few notches, even in Spirit World.

Kurama nodded politely in greeting to Koenma before looking directly at Yusuke. From what Yusuke saw his arrival did _not_ put Koenma at peace. In fact from what he could see Koenma looked like he was about to explode.

"No, Yusuke. Spirit World did something worse than that."

"What happened?"

"Five hundred years ago they kidnapped her, put her into a coma, and used her body to channel enough energy to create and sustain the kekkai barrier."

Yusuke's mouth dropped. "They what?"

Koenma practically squeaked. "It was a different time back then! Yusuke you have to believe me it was for the best...and it wasn't my choice."

He'd only been a little over a hundred and fifty ears, barely conscious enough to make the small decisions. He hadn't gotten to make the bigger ones till he got older. He hadn't even known about her until a hundred years ago!

"Regardless she will hold you responsible for the years she missed," Kurama spoke calmly.

"Ch, I'd probably do the same thing."

"And that's the problem!" Koenma squeaked. "Do you realize how much damage she could do now that the barrier is down? There hasn't been a Medium like her since we put it up!"

"Yes, I understand perfectly what she could do," the redhead continued to speak in an even tone.

"So you want me to bring her in so you can lock her up again? No can do Koenma," Yusuke finally spoke up once more.

The whole situation rubbed him wrong. There was no way he was going to pick Piper up from what looked like a peaceful outing with one of the strongest demons in demon world only to deliver her to someone who had kept her prisoner for five hundred years. Yusuke wasn't even sure he wanted to know how they'd kept her alive for five hundred years anyways. He was sure there was a creepy story attached there as well and he'd had his quota for a few days.

"Yusuke!" Koenma tried to call out to the former detective as Yusuke turned his back.

"Prince Koenma, if you'll allow me I will try to ascertain if she plans to take action. In fact, that's why I asked Botan to bring me up to see you in the first place."

Koenma paused as he looked to Kurama. He wasn't the only one. Yusuke turned back around to stare at his friend. From what he could tell there was a lot more to the story then he was getting. Damn, at this rate he was going to be late for dinner.

"Do you think that's wise?" Koenma questioned up in a whisper.

Kurama gave him no reply, just a look that Yusuke knew would have put a lesser being shaking in their boots.

"Wait - you sound like you know her."

"I do," Kurama responded without saying anything more.

"...how?" Okay, so he'd had enough of creepy situations but his curiosity was honestly getting the better of him.

"It's a long story Yusuke. One better saved for later. Right now I'm sure you have better things to do," the redhead replied with a pleasant smile on his face.

"You have a point. But you'll call me and let me know what's up with this chick right?"

"Yes, Yusuke. I will let you know what happened. I will see you later."


	6. Chapter 6

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter six**_

There was a sense of peace as Piper sat in the room. A lot of the area she'd been in so far had so many new things that it left her head spinning. This room, however, was bordering on familiar territory. There weren't a lot of things in which she was unfamiliar with. For that the young woman was thankful. After all, it was exhausting to see so many new things all at once. And to her everything about this world seemed new. From simple things such as the doors to the complex things of how the rooms were lit up had all changed in the last five hundred years, even in Demon World.

At least in this room, right now, there was nothing too new. The low table and cushions thrown about were the same even if they had different designs on them. Notably it was the table which lacked designs. The smoothness of the wood was an indication of how well Yomi, well Yomi's servants really, took care of it. Despite the fact that it lacked the intricate carvings or paintings, the room really did have a rich feel to it.

The lodgings to which Yomi and his son Shura inhabited were not that large. The rectangular house was nestled in the middle of one of the main Demon World woods. There was a total of four different rooms. The largest room was the one she was currently in, it served as the main room as far as she could tell. Then to one side was the cooking room. There was a device or two that Piper still wasn't sure of but Yomi had proven their uses even in the "traditional" setting. On the other side was the singular bedroom which Yomi and his son shared. Their individual bedding rolled up to be placed in the closet every morning and taken down every night. The last room was something she was still getting the hang of. Yomi had called it a toilet. It was the only room with a hinge based door and could only be accessed from the outside. As the structure was surrounded on all four sides by the traditional walkway, that still meant that she didn't have to put her shoes back on to get to it. Which was nice at night...though the idea of how the waste was removed by water still took some getting used to. Piper was a quick study and had learned her way around each of the new things enough to cope with them. Too bad none of that helped her with the latest endeavor.

Before her were a lot of small cards with symbols placed upon them. Those symbols happened to be modern kanji. There were about fifty or so that she needed to familiarize herself with today. All of which had some basis in the old mainland Kanji which she was used to. Of course, nothing was unified when she'd been alive as it seemingly was now. Which was what made all of this very hard. Not only was she having to reacquaint herself with how they were written now but she also had to relearn their sounds and meanings.

Thankfully Piper had at least a starting basis for them. It was funny; for a guy who couldn't see anymore he was sure a hard ass when it came to learning the written language. And the only reason she was putting up with it was the fact that, as he sat there reminding her to pay attention, he reminded her so much of _him_ that the pains in her chest stopped her rebellious spirit from lashing out.

"You're doing well."

See, it was these comments that really confused her. Piper knew that Yomi was blind. She also knew that demons (and spirit animals) had senses that were better than humans. But back to the idea that he was _blind_ and that she was working with paper. Heck, she wasn't even flipping anything back and forth right now. The young woman was just trying to prep her mind to take in all the subtle changes. And sure, she was doing better now than when she had started yesterday but how did he know that?

"You're wondering how I know," he pointed out.

...did he read minds now?

The brunette heard him laugh. The sound was somehow soothing more than mocking. The richness of his voice was surprising. Why was it that everyone in Demon World seemed to gain such attractive voices the longer they stayed alive? It really was unfair.

"It's really quite simple. Over the years I have trained my remaining senses to such an acute level that they more than make up for my lack of sight," Yomi filled her in.

It was obvious when she thought about it. She had seen many people rely on only one sense in a battle which was usually their eyesight. And it was always their fatal flaw in the end. Likewise Piper had seen people, humans mostly, who were born blind whom had their other senses more sensitive than her own. She figured out a while ago that it should probably have been the same for Demons. Though with their healing you never figured any of them would be able to permanently lose one of their senses. Yomi's very existence as it was now decided to prove her way of thinking wrong. Apparently demons _could_ sustain such damage that some things never repaired themselves.

"That much is obvious. It is just the degree which has me baffled," she mumbled under her breath.

He was going to hear it anyways, he would have even before losing his sight. So she might as well convey all the emotions she could. Apparently even when she tried to hide something he discovered it anyways. In that way he reminded her so much of him that it was scary. Especially since she never remembered Yomi being that perspective. Must have been another one of those age things.

"You should get back to concentrating. You have a lot left to learn."

"I do," Piper agreed. "I want to move on to something else, however. If I focus on these slips of paper any longer I am afraid I will start to rip them up."

The woman heard and felt Yomi rising up from his spot beside her. He had been tall before but the years had only made him more so. Really, that was another thing unfair in the world. Though she supposed her lack of height could be used advantageously in one way or another. It was just hard to see what when he stood taller about a head and a half above her.

"Very well. At least your spoken language has improved in the last few days."

"Speaking a language and writing a language are two very different things. I have never succeeded in the written language as much as I have the spoken," Piper remarked lightly.

Yomi nodded. Even she could hear the ever so quiet his as his long black hair slipped around his shoulder, moving across the maroon silk of his shirt. She wondered how loud such things were for him if his hearing was as strong as she was starting to believe. How could he go about life with such strong senses and not become overwhelmed by them? She supposed the same could be asked of anyone and for most cases she never wondered. With him though it was his hearing which astonished her. He heard things from miles upon miles away like they were nearby, or so she had seen him demonstrate. That was a level which Piper could only fathom at.

Though Piper knew very well _that_ wasn't what was making her feel so dizzy. Though she would never admit such a weakness out loud until she absolutely had to. She wasn't at that stage just yet as Yomi lead her outside. Near by even she could hear the younger demon training. He was always training it seemed. It was like he'd missed the whole point of being a child. Or, perhaps, he was the most free to be a child that she had ever seen. Shura was allowed to follow what he wanted to do for the majority of the day and at the same time received the needed structure from someone more experience when the time called for it.

"What do you think of Shura?"

Without missing a moment Piper said, "He confuses me."

"Oh?"

"You say he is your son, yet he has no mother. As far as I was aware demons still have to have a male and female to reproduce. Yet according to you he has _never_ had a mother. This anomaly does not show up in him however. And I am torn between the idea that he is doing what he wants to, thus experiencing what childhood should be about, and the idea that a child should not have to train to fight all day," she told him honestly.

"I see. So you do admit that it is his choice."

"Yes. Yet what if it is because he knows of nothing else _to_ do?"

"Have you asked him?"

This question mildly surprised her. Piper looked up towards Yomi's face for a better indication, the very motion of it was not that easy. Darn that head and a half height difference!

"You would find that he trains because he is driven to," Yomi said in a quiet, hushed voice.

He seemed to peer out into the distance as his son continued to train himself. There was a pride in the recesses of his face that she couldn't help but marvel over. Admittedly, the idea that Yomi was a father was strange. Especially considering that he had not seemed the type a thousand years ago. But she still had a hard time believing that the Yomi who stood in front of her and the one that she had known all those centuries ago were the same demon. He was so very different. Piper slightly clutched at the necklace around her neck as she wondered how different Kuronue would be, if any.

"I take responsibility for his drive," the tall man spoke out as he tilted his head down towards the human woman with the smallest of smiles. "His creation was purely selfish. I originally meant for him to be just another route to power. I never expected to care for him as I do. So I have allowed him the freedom to follow his own desires."

Bluntly she pointed out, "You're being very direct."

That smile stayed on his face as he responded, "I find that even if I now have the time, I no longer have the patience to be anything but direct."

Piper had the feeling that he was going to continue. After everything that had happened she wasn't quite sure she was ready for more truths than what had already been spoken. After all, up till now the idea of Yomi being a father was something she could have laughed at. The fact that he just openly admitted to caring for his son was quite the revelation. Though she had to admit it did fall in line with the Yomi that she had known. Not that part about him caring but the part of him liking to be direct with someone. Five hundred...no, a thousand years ago by this point, that was one of the many differences between the two partners. When she had known him, Yomi had been _nothing_ but direct. If he saw something that he wanted he went after it - damning all those who followed him to suffer the consequences. Yet despite the fact that it was said in a very young Yomi like fashion, which was to say direct, Piper was still nervous over the content. Which was why she decided to interrupt before he could continue.

"Please tell me you have something to eat," she whispered.

"I was waiting for you to ask," Yomi responded.

Slightly Piper pushed at his arm with her shoulder. Her stomach had given up growling sometime that morning after the last few days of neglecting to eat a proper meal. That definitely wasn't the healthiest thing for her to do but...well, she was a human in demon world. The lack of a hardy meal was the least of her concern.

"Should we call him in?" She asked as she lingered near the edge of the traditional walkway.

Yomi shook his head ever so slightly. "Shura will find us when he is hungry. For now it's best to let him have his fun."

"As you say," was her dismissive response.

It wasn't very long after that till she was sitting down in front of the same low table she'd been studying on. Piper had to admit the new ways in which people had in which to cook sped up the process quite a bit. By Yomi's own explanation the oil coated pans and gas sustained fire which he employed were still considered archaic by much of the three worlds. As far as she was concerned it was still something to be marveled over and to master. Unfortunately the longer she stayed in demon world the harder it was to pay attention. The last day had started to prove that to her more than anything else. Humans were not meant to live in Demon World and even she had her limits. Funny how they became the hardest thing to ignore around the end when it had been so easy to ignore at the beginning.

As Piper picked up another piece of meat and vegetable, she spoke up, "You should eat too, Yomi."

It wasn't like she could hear his stomach growl or anything. It was just that she hadn't seen him even take so much as a bite since the reunion. The most he seemed to partake in was tea. And Piper had a feeling she knew why as well. Demons had a natural preference to eat humans. It wasn't a hidden fact by any means but it seemed to be less discussed among the ones whose shape resembled the human species more. It was just that she had been around enough demons to have figured out their diet a long time ago.

"As long as I do not hear them scream, I am fine," the brunette woman continued to talk without raising her head.

Piper might not have been all overflowing with absolute love for her own species but hearing them scream did get to her. She supposed that everyone had their breaking point. Hers was hearing possibly innocent people scream in pain and fear. It was different _knowing_ what someone was eating to survive and seeing the slaughter of people which she couldn't help but empathise with.

"I didn't realize that you were so comfortable with the consumption of your own kind," he spoke out in a mildly surprised tone.

"I admit, as a human it is a difficult position to first contemplate. This is not the first meal I have shared with a demon and I doubt it will be the last. I would be a hypocrite if I condemned a demon such as yourself for eating your natural food source when I enjoy my own," was her response before she took a bite to prove her point. "For all I know this animal was a great individual to their own species yet here I am eating them. And as your prefered food is humans I expect it is much the same for you…"

"That's very understanding of you."

"It is the natural order of things," Piper said.

Though really the consumption of human flesh was taught to be anything but natural in most of the human world places she'd been to. That's not to say it was a universal truth around the world but she hadn't been to all places around even one world. In fact, her travels might have been considered extensive at the time but from what she'd seen so far she hadn't covered even half the globe. The fact that the world was a _globe_ had been quite an interesting thing to contemplate all on its own.

"As long as I do not meet them or hear them scream," the medium whispered after a moment. "It is the natural order of things for you to eat a human but it is unnatural for me to witness the slaughter and feel nothing."

Yomi nodded, "Very well. Though you'll be relieved to know that I have no plans on slaughtering your fellow man today."

"...please tell me I am not eating from the last slaughter."

Suddenly that sick feeling in her stomach only got worse. Piper sat down the chopsticks and tried her best not to imagine what part of a human the meat she was eating could have been. His laughter did very little to sooth the ill feeling inside of her at that point even if it denied the darker pits of her thoughts.

"That would be tactless of me," he spoke out. "Rest assured, I have not turned you into a cannibal."

The general feeling of sickness still wasn't letting up. She''d imagined the meat as chunks of human flesh far too vividly to immediately start back in. Instead she ate from the rice and vegetables that came with the meal and sipped on the herbal tea in an attempt to calm her stomach. Sadly the nausea only subsided a little and it was still noticeable from within. As the time went on she started to try and focus on other things than her body which was, compared to the last few days, rapidly reminding her of where she was. Tolerance was a funny thing once it was reached. Even the smallest of breeches started to make the progression seem so much quicker than the time before.

"What's wrong?" Yomi asked midway through the end of the meal.

"I am only human," she commented as she started to get up with her dishes in hand.

As Piper started to move past him towards the next room where there was a small bucket with water, she hoped he took that to meant that the conversation about eating her own kind had upset her. It would only be logical to assume that. After all, it was the truth. It just wasn't the thing that had continued to bother he. That was was reserved for the fact that she was a human in Demon World and no matter how unique of a human she was, the environment was still toxic to her. Her body wasn't like a demon's or apparition's which could handle all the different components. It was slowly eating at her and breaking her down, making her sick to her stomach and dizzy.

She had reached her threshold yesterday and the only thing keeping her standing now was her ability to channel demonic energy to add to her own spirit energy. Without that her body would not have had enough energy to fight off the ill effects. As it was this channeling ability was only a temporary measure and she knew that. Piper also knew that once she got to the point where she couldn't stay without risking death, which would be soon, she'd be saying goodbye to Yomi for a while as she recovered. Yomi might have looked quite human until someone calculated in his height and the multitude of horns on his head. No matter the country there was no way he could blend into the human world. Or at least the human world she remembered. Which means that Piper would be alone in a _very_ strange land. That was what she was worried about more than the diet of her companion.

Unfortunately Yomi had gotten quite perceptive in his old (young) age. As she passed him he reached out for her wrist and held her in place.

"I believe I made myself clear the first time. I do not have the patience for anything but the direct route," he said as though reminding the young woman.

"I am only a human and I am currently in the Demon World. It is killing me."

"I see," his voice was a mere rumble as he let go of her wrist.

"I have exhausted my current options and have calculated that I will start to deteriorate within twenty more hours."

"You have lasted longer than any other human I have heard of. I can expect no more than that. So if it is the atmosphere which is killing you then we shall just find you a route to human world in the morning."

"And then we will part ways," Piper continued the thought.

Yomi nodded. With that bitter understanding she went into the next room to clean up the mess that had been made to feed her.


	7. Chapter 7

A/n: Fair warning for those of you who are uncomfortable with such things. There is a moderate sexual situation in here. I wouldn't call it a lime but I just wanted to allow for the warning.

 **Raised**

 _ **Chapter Seven**_

The pitter patter of rain was a soothing sound as Piper laid under the heavy cover that Yomi had provided for the night. Underneath her body was the padding which was tucked away every morning. She had a feeling both of the items had actually been his to sleep on but she hadn't wanted to bring it up because that might have seemed rude. After everything that he had done for her in the past week, one of the last things she wanted to do was offend him.

Still, even with the sound of rain and comfortable bedding, it was hard to sleep. The medium had spent so much more time sleeping lately than she meant to after waking up from Spirit World's imposed coma. Though even Piper realized that it had been necessary sleep as she had worn out her body each and every day just by being in Demon World, much less all the physical activity that she'd partaken in. Knowing all that didn't sooth her mind nor did it soothe the ego inside of her that wanted to have gotten _everything_ done by now. There were so many things that she hadn't done yet that it left her mind spinning. Which was exactly why sleep wasn't finding her very easily on this particular night.

In the relative silence of the night even she was able to hear one of the partition doors sliding. Piper didn't need to turn to face it to know that Yomi had come out of his and his son's bedroom. There were the subtle hints towards the senses that helped figure that one out even if one ignored the fact that she could feel his energy. It was like the ocean by this point - seemingly so still but it held the promise of being deep and being able to turn on the unsuspecting person at any point he chose. That was not exactly the comparison she had equated with him a thousand years ago; it was quite the opposite in fact. But times had a tendency to change people and seeing as she still knew and felt at least five hundred of those years pass, that was easier to accept than a lot of other things about the world.

She was tempted to turn around and see if there was something that her host wanted but she refrained. He'd only just come out of his room and she knew that it was the silence and cloak of night that made the seconds seem like minutes. With that in mind, Piper didn't turn around. Thankfully he didn't keep her waiting to know what he wanted for very long as he laid down beside her. Piper's entire body tensed up in a sort of shock as he slipped under the cover. It wasn't that she was unused to having someone sleep next to her, that was the farthest thing from the truth, it was more that it had never been him. The fact that he laid down behind her and got under the cover wasn't even the most shocking thing - that was saved for the fact that from what she could tell, Yomi wasn't wearing very much. Against the single layer of silk Piper could feel the warmth of his skin radiating towards her, pushing off the chill of the night in ways that only untempered body heat could do.

One of his arms slipped underneath her body while the other went over, wrapping the brunette securely in his hold as he closed the last few inches. Oh yeah, he was definitely only half—- wait, nope, there was no blockade on his end. Was sleeping without clothing the usual for him?

"What are you doing?" Piper decided to ask him directly.

After all, that's what he'd been telling her he prefered. Which was quite different from what she was personally used to. It wasn't that the young woman prefered lying. It was just that she was used to things being unsaid or naturally walking around them. It had been a sort of game for her and one of the very few she could keep up with as time went on.

"I thought I'd give you a reason to return," Yomi said in a quiet voice.

It wouldn't have been easy to mistake what he meant, though for once he'd chosen to go around the subject too. Piper wondered, idly, if he even realized he'd done that. Especially considering that he'd been the one to 'reprimand' her about such things. Somehow, as his hands started to glide over her skin and tease the bumps into showing up with his ghost like touches, reminding _him_ to be more direct with his speech wasn't one of her priorities.

Piper shifted almost uncomfortable, though her body would tell a whole other story, as his fingers undid the knot to the silk garment she'd been given to wear to bed. It was when she felt his bare flesh pressing into her own around the navel that she was finally out of shock enough to act. Her hand moved to hold his just where it was, least he get the ideas to slide it anywhere less safe.

"Demon world has been more of my home than human world for a long time," she told him as she continued to lay in her spot with one of his hands gripped in hers.

"To me," he amended reasonably.

After living with a fox for most of her life, you think Piper have remembered that people had more than one hand (most of the time). Somehow that idea hadn't come back to her until after she felt his fingers slipping around the fold by her breasts.

"You decided to try to seduce me to accomplish that?" The young looking woman questioned, keeping the surprise out of her tone and body language as much as she was able. Which, considering everything, was a lot more than most people.

His claws brushed up against her nipple teasingly. Piper didn't even have to clench her jaw to hide the reaction to that, though it would have been appropriate. Too bad that it was harder to hide the physical reaction to such a thing. She had to shift your body in order to free up her arm to grab at his exploring fingers. And while she stopped his exploration it also had the effect of pressing at least half of her back closer to him and effectively making it feel like she was being hugged. The unintended affection felt good, admittedly, but not so much that she forgot where she was or who she was with.

"It seemed like the right tactic to use."

Piper entirely sure if she should be flattered by that or insulted. She did know that despite the indecision his attentions did feel very good. She was only human after all. Yomi had been nothing but kind, understanding, and attentive since she met back up with him. There was also the fact that he was an attractive male who had been all of that to her; one that was now showing something akin to interest. Oh, she knew it might be a ploy but that would be assuming he had something to gain. As far as she was aware there was nothing she could offer him that would actually be of value. Well, outside of sexual gratification but if it was a ploy then his motives would have to go deeper than that.

"Your tactic is flawed," Piper told him in a steady voice.

"Oh?" He sounded interested. "In what ways?"

"For one, you seemingly lack the passion to make such a tactic believable. If you want to lie to me, you will have to lie a whole lot better than this."

She felt him brushing hair away from her ear with his nose. Piper still held onto his hands so he hadn't really been left with very many options. She wondered if she should have let his hands go so he didn't feel the need to make such an intimate display. _Especially_ when the next words out of his mouth had to have dropped down an octave even in their whispered form.

"Who says I'm lying?"

Remember that whole only human thing? Yeah, well Piper was suddenly being reminded by her body that despite everything that happened she was still in a sort of physical prime. The way the muscles in his hands seem to flex with want to continue their exploration didn't help matters either.

"Your body," she told him with confidence despite her physical state.

"I see," he murmured practically into her ear.

Seriously if she closed her eyes right now she could _almost_ pretend. That sort of pretending would do a disservice to his memory and to Yomi himself. So Piper resolved not to do that under any circumstances. Besides with part of Kuronue in the necklace, part of his spirit, she had no idea knowing if there was even a symbolance of consciousness. And if there was how much of what was going on around the pendant he could actually sense.

In her ponderings she'd forgotten to account for something yet again. Which was rather sloppy of her - normally she didn't forget this many things. First she'd forgot that he had two hands and then she'd forgot how much stronger he was. Yomi turned her around which made a bit of a mess with the covers. Piper was sure that it had made a bit of noise too and with that she was mildly concerned that there would be a bruise somewhere on her body in a few hours. After all, she was already fighting off the ill effects of being in demon world so she definitely weren't at her strongest.

However when she felt him commandeer her hand to reach down between their bodies, all concern over something as silly as a bruise went up and smoke. He moved his hand away from hers only after cupping her around his quickly hardening member. Then he pulled one of her legs around his waist, curling his hand around her silk covered butt. Not that the silk did a lot of good at this point. Especially considering how he'd parted her legs.

"Is that proof enough for you?"

Alright, she had _tried_ to not be offensive. She had tried to stop this despite the screams of her body based on a lack of reaction from his. That way it could be pushed onto the idea that he wasn't truly interested in her that way. And no one would blame him. He was a demon and she was human. Not that it really stopped many people in the past but it _was_ something that could be blamed without either party losing face.

"Yomi, I am not interested."

"Your body says otherwise."

"I am not only just my body," she told him evenly. "No matter what my body reacts to, it is my mind that is control. I am not a lower life form who blames base desires for my actions."

"If it's not obvious by this point, let me make this clear," Yomi started out.

Originally when he turned her over so that you was facing him, he had to dislodge himself away from her head. Especially considering what he'd planned to do. With the height disparities that meant that he had to angle himself practically off the bed in order to bring her within sight range of his face (for her own comfort most likely) while still allowing and or forcing her hand towards the proof of his 'passion'. Which all just meant that as he talked to her, Piper saw his face in the pale moonlight. His face and all the muscles below it. He really was quite beautiful and what he was doing was dragging his beauty down into something more tangible - something that could be sexually desired. But that wasn't enough for her to act on anything.

"I do not blame you for your reactions. In fact, I encourage them."

"I am not a whore," Piper said firmly, something that was seemingly off topic but only for the fact that it was one of the most pressing thoughts on her mind.

"I never assumed you were."

"You might not have assumed it but you are treating me as though I am," she told him plainly because that was apparently the tactic he liked the most. It was the most effective with him. "You talk about how my body desires yours. That is true enough. But this puts me in a position where I am forced to explain myself for my denial to you...you who has been nothing but kind by housing, educating, and feeding me while I have nothing _else_ to repay you with other _than_ my body."

"I did not asked for repayment," he spoke out, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"No one does anything for free, Yomi," the brunette pointed out. "And if I was unattached with no loyalties due to another, I might not mind as much. But I…"

Actually she couldn't finish that thought with one hundred percent certainty. It wasn't like she could claim to be attached to someone else with all honesty. Piper couldn't feel him anymore - there was no soul bond holding the two of them close through the worlds. And if rumors were to be believed, if the pendant in her hand could be taken as a sort of evidence, then he was _dead_. Which really did sever any bond she had with him. But it was something she had only just awoken to and so the thought of it was enough to slice another deep wound in her mind.

"He is gone," Yomi spoke in a mildly understanding tone.

Really, it was surprising how gentle he was being even with such a blunt statement. Piper could feel his body balancing somewhere between picking up and continuing with the sex act and relaxing. Like there was a constant battle and he was prepared for whatever outcome. She dared not move her hand in fear that the movement could cause a resurgence.

"I know. Under any normal circumstance, it would hard to let go of someone so important no matter the truth of the matter. And it only _just_ happened for me. And I...I do not know what to do with my life anymore," Piper admitted. "But even with that, I would not feel _right_ if we did have sex. I owe him a whole lot more than a week worth of grieving."

"You owe him nothing."

It was a silly thing to be loyal to the dead, she knew that much. Yomi wasn't saying something that she hadn't said a few times in the past. Right now, though, there was a three way battle going on and it wasn't one she wanted to do while naked with a man in bed. In one hand (...literally) she had a man who was offering to make her aching body light up like a bonfire for the night; her heart cried that it was wrong while her head agreed but only because of the unequal footing between the two of them. Piper felt like quite the hypocrite, actually, because in this she felt that it really was her heart leading the way. That was something that she had always advised against. It was something that Piper, for the most part, liked to do without. People made bad choices when they made emotional ones. Right now though the feeling of grief and resurgence of loyalty at such pain really did make it hard to focus on anything else.

"I owe him nothing yet I owe him everything," the woman said, purposefully contradicting herself. "And if this, whatever exactly it is you had in mind, _isn't_ just about repayment or some ploy then those are not the kind of thoughts I want to start off with. As soon as I am able and I have cleared my body of all ills caused by demon world, then I will return here. You have my word on that. You do not need to try to seduce me into coming back. I will come back of my own volition."

Oh good, she'd finally talked enough that the lower half of his body had become docile enough that she could move her hand without fear. Thankfully Yomi had turned into someone that thought with their head more than their 'heart'.

"Very well," he said after a moment of silence.

He stood up and pulled on a robe she hadn't realized had been on the ground. As he walked away Piper couldn't help but feel odd. It was a very strange situation to realize she'd just been a part of. And the idea that it had been _Yomi_ was still hard to reconcile in her head. Without turning back around to face the stunned woman, he paused at the sliding door leading to the outside world. Apparently he didn't want to go back to bed right away. Not that she blamed him - even from something so seemingly simple her body was buzzing with the could have beens.

"When you are ready remember this - I am willing to offer you everything he was not. A stable home and a family of your own."

As he walked out the door her eyes widened. It was in that moment she felt the pit of her stomach fall. Was she such a silly little girl that such a thing appealed to her? — The reason that her stomach dropped was because the answer was quite simple. Yes. Yes she was.

Damn him.

Piper wasn't _quite_ sure to which him she wanted to damn either.


	8. Chapter 8

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Eight**_

The medium stood at the precipice between human and demon world. In this case it was quite literally; Piper was standing on a small cliff. Below her was a bit of a distortion. A ripple between worlds really. It was what she was used to seeing, what she was actually pretty good at spotting. In fact, even Yomi with all his advanced senses hadn't sended this ripple before her. Piper supposed that was because of her innate connection to fields of energy so it really wasn't his fault. And normally she'd have no issue stepping right through it. The only issue was that, again, she was quite literally at the precipice. So not only was she torn between staying somewhere at least a _little_ familiar, despite the fact that it could quite literally kill her, Piper had to deal with the fact that the closest way back to human world could possibly be dangerous. Who _knew_ where she'd end up if she jumped down without looking. There was a good chance she'd turn up at the bottom of a lake or on the edge of a cliff. Either way would not be good. Despite all the things that the woman _could_ do, her bones still broke if she fell from too high or her lungs still collapsed if she didn't have air to fill them.

"What are you doing?"

Piper turned around to look at Shura. He really was the spitting image of his father - or at least what she'd imagine Yomi would have looked like as a child. Piper had really only met him when he was already an adult, a young one but still considered an adult.

"I'm debating on the chance of my death if I jump through this opening between worlds."

Shura scuffed. "You'll die if you stay. You know that right? You already look like you're going to pass out and you're just standing here."

He wasn't saying anything that was untrue. She did feel dizzy and feverish. With all of the poisoned air about, at least as far as a human body was concerned, Piper had overstayed her welcome quite a bit. It wasn't like the old days where she had a way to combat the effects. As far as she knew that was completely gone now and she had little hope of being able to stay in Demon World for any long periods of time. But seriously...if she jumped into that rift she might end up hundreds of feet above the ground.

"What are you so afraid of?" Shura asked.

"That I will fall to my death if I go in," the brunette answered honestly. "Or drown."

He stared at the seemingly young woman for a moment, sizing her up. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Why does father even want to keep you around? I mean, you're just a frail human woman. What's so good about you?"

This time it was her turn to seize him up. Piper could see the slight waver in his eye and the stiffness of his shoulders as he stood before her. There was an uncertainty to the way he held his hands mixed with frustration. Was that some sort of jealousy swirling in his eyes? No, not jealousy exactly but something moderately close to it.

"I have unique abilities among human and demon kind alike," she answered in a neutral tone. "As a medium, I have the ability to channel any and all sources of spiritual or demonic energy for my own purposes. In that way I can be quite useful. More so in Demon World than in human world. I also have a different perspective given that I've been alive for thousands of years."

He seemed to stop at that. "What?"

"Granted I was put into a deep sleep by Enma and the rest of Spirit World for the last five hundred years but yes, I've been alive quite a while. Nearing three thousand I do believe."

"What? But you're human! You barely look older than me."

That was only partially true. Shura looked around the age of thirteen while Piper knew she appeared to be a mature woman. Maybe around the age of twenty-four or so. Then again, she'd sometimes been taken as younger than that - sometimes even as young as sixteen. Age really was in the eye of the beholder.

"And I've had a _very_ interesting life," Piper commented in a whisper with a wry smile.

"How are you still _alive_?" Shura demanded.

The three thousand year old medium knew that time was coming to a close. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Yomi was also approaching and she was sure that there was going to be a lot of judgement coming at her for not already leaving. He might not say it aloud but Piper knew that her hesitation might have been mistaken as cowardice. And really, who could argue with that? She was, after all, quite afraid that if she jumped in without knowing more of the variables that she'd end up dead.

"That's a story for another day."

Shura stepped in front of her, getting closer. "No, I want to know now."

"We don't always get what we want," Piper informed him softly.

In this moment, staring down at him even if it was just barely, he never looked more like the Yomi she remembered. There was a fire in his eyes that couldn't be quenched. A headstrong current that was about to pull her under. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was the appearance of his father. Yomi was dressed to impress it seemed. He had on a tighter fitting black shirt with a gray-blue jacket over it. Though the construction of such garments was really quite shocking to her, Piper had a feeling that it wasn't that out of character for him. He wore it well, like the jacket was an old friend.

"That's enough Shura."

Shura tried to protest but the look that Yomi gave him was positively parental. It did well to quiet the headstrong boy down. Though the look in Shura's rose colored eyes didn't diminish in the least he backed away from Piper once more.

"Let's go, Piper," Yomi spoke in a casual tone as he held out his hand.

Piper looked at the offered appendage even as she slipped her hand into his. There was little doubt in her mind that he had heard the conversation between her and his son. A lot of different beings would have been able to hear such a thing at the range he'd been approaching from. And while Piper had taken into account that her chance of survival dramatically rose if Yomi went through with her, she hadn't thought he'd want to put himself in potential danger to do that.

"I'll send your father back to you as soon as I can," she assured Shura, summing as much breath as she could so it sounded stronger than she felt.

The look in his face was skeptical but a small tense area by his eyebrows did relax. He shifted in his position as he stared up at Piper before nodding in acceptance of her words. Yomi on the other hand looked positively amused. There was a lighthearted air about him that seemed almost jovial. With the moderately happy aura about him, Yomi pulled her in closer to him and stepped back right over the edge of the cliff.

* * *

Kurama woke from a dead sleep. He lay in bed, feeling quite winded. It was like a pile of bricks had been laid on his chest without any warning. The longer he stayed awake the heavier the pile got. It felt like someone was trying to build a bridge brick by brick, totally forgetting that there were lighter and less fragile materials to use now. Yet the pressure on his chest also had a pleasant sensation. Warmth spread through his entire body. He felt tingles run from his fingers to his toes as an elated sensation pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

As he sat up, the redhead wasn't sure if he wanted to smile or frown. The pain and pleasure he was experiencing meant only one thing. Piper had come back to the human world; that must have been close enough for the spirit bond to start reforming. While that was a lot for him to consider, he knew he would have to do something else first. And that was make good on his promise to speak with Piper on behalf of Spirit World to make sure that she wasn't going to take revenge against them for what they'd done.

Kurama turned the digital clock towards him so he could check the exact time. He knew that it was before the sun rose but he didn't know the exact time. Once the green lights illuminated his face he was able to see that it was five in the morning. Only thirty minutes before he had to get up and start his daily routine to get ready for work.

As he moved his legs off of his bed, Kurama paused a moment to consider a lot of other variables. He knew that speaking with her was going to be of the utmost priority but he also had to be prepared for the fact that Piper been asleep for five hundred years. A lot of modern concepts and ways of life would be lost on her. He needed to prioritize which ones to help explain in order to soften the blow that had been dealt. He wasn't exactly sure how successful he'd be in softening the blow but he knew he needed to at least try. After all, when something hurt _less_ someone was less likely to retaliate.

The former Spirit World employee (coerced or not) opened the communicator that he'd been entrusted with recently. It turned on near instantly and patched him through to one of the many grim reapers that Spirit World had employed.

"I need to speak with Prince Koenma."

And that was all he said before closing the device. Sometimes the best way to get things done was to allow for no rebuttal.


	9. Chapter 9

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Nine**_

Piper clenched onto Yomi's arms, fingernails digging into his jacket, as she held her breath. Her heart skipped a beat as a sensation like none other hit her. Not the kind of skip which happens when one sees a loved one. An actual skip; like the kind that some people die from under the wrong (or right) circumstances. Thankfully her life continued going on though the sensation did leave her chest with lingering pain. It was as though the beat the woman's heart picked back up on had been given super strength to smash into her rib cage. Sadly that meant that when Piper regained the ability to breathe it really was at the wrong time.

Water flooded her mouth in the last moment before the two of you broke the surface to the small pond the portal had lead to. With that water came at least one bug, of that she was sure. Piper did her best to avoid spitting it back out in Yomi's face as they finally broke the surface of the water. The area above the water was dark and the temperature mild. It was hard to see beyond a foot in front of her face given that it still seemed to be late at night and she seemed to be in an area of dense foliage.

Despite the fact that she was back in the human world, Piper was still exhausted and weak after her stay in demon world. The sensation of complete exhaustion was only aggravated by the fact that she'd sucked in a mouthful of dubiously clean water as well as had her heart skip a beat. Even with her exhausted, practically numb, body she forced herself to swim to shore. Just like desire she wouldn't let exhaustion rule her body when her mind had other plans; not until the point where she literally couldn't push herself farther. Thankfully the seemingly young woman had enough left in her to get to shore and start to squeeze out the pale clothing she had on. This was perhaps one of the few times she was glad that Yomi had lost his sight since re-meeting him. Even though it was a special blend of fabric, white still had the tendency to show indecencies when it wetly clung to a waterlogged body.

"I see one of your fears had been grounded in truth," Yomi comically spoke up as he stood on the bank.

Piper cast her gaze over in his direction. Though honestly it was more of a shot in the dark than anything based on the sound of his voice. It was really dark outside.

"Though if you had drowned from a shallow pond such as that, I believe I overestimated you."

"Anything is possible," she reminded him as she continued to ring out her clothes.

Though the weather was mild it would still be best to be dry. Staying waterlogged invited trouble. Not to mention once Yomi returned to his son, Piper would have to face any sort of predation that the area had to offer alone. Fire tended to be a human's best friend (next to a sharp weapon and knowledge how to use it) during times of natural predation. Against most other demons or such creature fire was practically useless.

"I suppose it is," Yomi agreed.

She busied herself between collecting sticks and continuously wringing out her clothes. Yomi stayed nearby, his breathing just about the only steady thing in the area. Goodness knows that hers was not. Piper still had a bit of a wheeze like a horse had kicked her in the ribs. But she made due with her own frailty and got a fire going without any assistance. Considering that the wood was still green and half of it was growing moss that was a rather large accomplishment for the moment. Especially when the bruises that Yomi had given her the night prior hindered her movements; they were minor bruises, really, but they seemed to have formed in the most inopportune spots.

"I didn't know that you were so well versed at surviving outside," Yomi mused.

The medium kicked back and soaked in the warmth of the fire. "I did not always live in the pampered state you often saw. If I did not know how to survive in nature, I would have never survived at all."

"I understand."

There was silence between the two of them. Piper mildly wondered what held Yomi back from returning to his son. One part of her figured that he was attempting to ensure that she was good to her word - that she had an intention of returning. Another part of Piper wondered if he was waiting for something else to happen. No doubt her presence in human world was driving spirit world crazy. Enma was probably upstairs raging and taking it out on all of his servants. She hoped the bastard choked on his own rage and fear. Let him be afraid of what she planned to do for a while. Fear and anticipation only made things sweeter.

"You said that he was dead," the brunette whispered to Yomi.

"I said that he was gone," Yomi replied.

Piper closed her amethyst eyes as she leaned her head against the side of her arm. The empty space beside her was a reminder of how much she didn't have at the moment, and it was kind of pathetic. The resting woman wasn't the kind of person who liked to get hung up on emotional things. She always advised others to do the logical things. But every so often her heart decided to throw in some very ironic or cliche feelings into the mix just to remind her that she was still human. It was almost too easy to forget that otherwise.

"I do not understand. Someone is dead or they are not. How can he be gone if he is alive?

Piper's hands went to the pendant around her neck. The jewel felt cooler to her now that she was in human world than it had it demon world. The power which swirled around inside felt thicker, somehow, more weighed down. It moved slower like honey which had been left on the table during the winter months. In the moment that her hand went to the bobble, she realized something. Kuronue was both dead and not dead because of the pedant.

"A soul transference," Piper murmured to herself as she realized that was the answer.

"Correct," Yomi finally answered. "Kurama died once and moved on through a human life."

"It sounds like you've crossed paths once again," she pointed out.

"We interacted a few years ago."

"Pleasantly?" Piper asked

There was a thin smile on his face but she couldn't sense any change in his attitude. Considering the good will that he'd been exuding since she woke up in your old home, the air of neutrality was more telling to her than any words he could have sown together. It had been mixed and somehow their meeting had some strategic value to him. One that, judging by his silence, was to be used either against her or in contingency because of her. Still there was a sort of comfort in knowing that it couldn't have been _all_ bad. The reborn version of him was still alive. The pain in Piper's chest and lack of breath proved that. She could feel her life energy reaching out and forming a bridge. But there was so much distance between the two of them that it would take time. And given that he'd transplanted his soul into another body there was always the chance that the connection would never fully form or be as strong as before.

"You son awaits," Piper told Yomi after a few minutes of contemplative silence.

He looked down at her, or rather tilted his head down in her general direction seeing as he was actually still blind. "I would be remiss if I left you unattended while you're still in a weakened state."

The medium smiled despite herself, the look verging on tender. "Careful Yomi. More comments like that and someone's bound to believe you care."

"And here I thought humans were reassured by the idea that someone cares for them," he quipped.

Piper shrugged lightly as she reached around her. There were plenty of edible green plants in the area if someone knew what to look for. Even with only the fire to light her area she still had a good idea of what was around. And while the edible fiddleheads that she could grab at might not provide as much sustenance as any wild tubers in the area, they were a lot easier to grab. Which meant that she didn't have to get up. It might not have been the most appealing meal but energy was energy.

Yomi made no comment on her munching down on the surrounding edible vegetation that she could reach. It was in his silence that she was left to think. Why was he so intent on seeing her alive and relatively happy? Sure what she had told Shura was true (Piper was more useful than appearances would let on) but it barely justified the lengths he went. He must have had an ulterior motive that she had yet to uncover.

The pain in her chest heightened to a record state that stopped her breath once more. Piper clenched at her heart as she doubled over, sweat instantly accumulating on her brow. The woman could practically feel herself give up the ghost in the unique way she'd done millennium ago. It wasn't that she was dying so much as that the majority of her soul was moving to establish the connection. A connection that was already healing, regardless. It was almost like a force that she couldn't control and had she been a young medium, Piper probably _wouldn't_ have been able to control it. As it was, she pulled her soul back by sheer will with gritted teeth as she dug her nails into the soft earth underneath her. Even with the effort a little piece escaped and zipped through the air…

For about twenty-five feet. Though Yomi had made no other move, Kurama had gotten close enough for the fire to caste his skin into a large shadow. Piper wouldn't have been able to see any coloration or anything, just enough of an outline to recognize that it was a person. And that person seemed to flinch when her spirit hit them full force in the chest. Even as she pulled it back in, sweat curving around her eye in pain and effort, Piper noticed that the figure got a lot larger than they originally were when they stood up. The fabric around them also created another shape than what they walked into the area with.

When he stepped forward she saw the figure that she knew exceedingly well - Youko Kurama. Despite the pain of pulling back her spirit Piper smiled, not with amusement but from a feeling of relief and affection. Though it became confused when he continued to move forward but in one step it was as an entirely different person. This one had red hair of a different style and texture, green eyes that were larger and set in a different face, and of a build that wasn't as tall nor as wide in the shoulders. That wasn't to say that he didn't have some similarities but it was mostly in the way he carried himself. Then there was undoubtedly the feel of him that washed over her skin as he got within the warm inner glow that the fire casted. The person in front of her must have been the body that Kurama had inhibited.

"Yomi," Kurama acknowledged.

"Kurama," Yomi replied in like.

His voice sounded similar. It was like the one she remembered but lighter, less 'I'm the only alpha here' sounding. And there was a softness in it even with the edge that showed a hint of affection. Though if that was a general outlook or for Yomi himself, Piper couldn't yet be sure. Not without having more time to put the information together.

"Piper," Kurama spoke out in the same introductory like tone.

The millennia old medium stood up and this time offered him a smile in amusement. "I knew you liked the sound of your name too much."

Of course that was in entirely different circumstances. It was more amusing to watch the look of admonishment appear in the creasing of his eyes than anything. It wasn't like she was going to become an incredibly vocal person and aust him on anything of importance; he knew that. Which was probably why the tone he used next was still of the casual variety.

"I'm afraid this more of a business call. Thank you for bringing her back to Human World, Yomi, but I believe I can handle it from here."

"I doubt that," Yomi said with a hint of good natured rivalry. "But I do have other business to attend back in Demon World. So this will be good bye."

"Only for a little while," Piper assured him.

She was a woman of her word after all. Even if Kurama's gaze landed on her questioningly, and soon to be extremely judgemental no doubt, Piper wasn't going to go back on her word. She promised Yomi that she'd return to Demon World when she regained all her health. Piper _didn't_ , however, say for how long and for what purposes she'd return.

As Yomi started to walk away, the redhead version of Kurama spoke back up. "It's been awhile since you've seen Nepal, hasn't it?"

"So that is where this is," Piper mused. "I hardly recognized the place without the Sword of Wisdom in your hand."

His smile was almost sheepish. Strange. Very strange. "Yes, well, seven hundred years is likely to make one have difficulty recognizing an area. Especially when you're in the middle of it. You're inability to recognize where you emerged from is understandable. You are, after all, only human."

"Now so are you," she pointed out with a dry humor. "Interesting story I take it?"

"Borne of a clumsy mistake I assure you," he spoke out as he shifted into a more serious posture and tone. "That is not what I came to talk about."

"I know. You mentioned something about business?" Piper spoke out as a prompt.

After learning how good Yomi's hearing was for herself, she understood why Kurama was being so formal. Yomi knew about the connection between the two of them. He had undoubtedly still had mixed feelings about Kurama which were well earned no doubt. If he learned anything more than it was likely to have the ability to be used as fodder against him most likely. Though she wouldn't be surprised if Yomi turned something against her either. He'd seemingly gotten quite calculating in his _old_ (hah!) age.

"Indeed. There are many important things that you and I need to discuss. You, however, do not look ready to have such a discussion."

"Staying in demon world without something to sift through all of the poisons will do that to a girl," Piper said in an idle tone as she took her seat once more.

After everything that had gone on, Piper barely had enough energy to stand. If she had tried walking she knew it would have showed exactly the toll she had taken on her body. Not to mention the bruising on her hips which made walking a painful activity.

"Why did you not return sooner?" There was a calculated look about him, though as he moved in closer she could see the concern marginally touch his eyes just as she expected there to have been.

"I awoke to a world five hundred years changed. _Demon World_ was so different that it was hard to grasp even the basics. I could barely fathom how much human world must have changed in my time apart."

"And where does Yomi come into play with this?" Kurama asked as he knelt down.

"As a teacher and friend. While I tried to accumulate as much knowledge about the basic forms of change in language for the region as well as life facts and major historical events, he sheltered me and provided tutoring," Piper spoke out calmly.

"I see. Did you not believe I would do the same?"

"I believed that you were dead. Until about half an hour ago, I did not realize what must have occurred."

He frowned, "A lesson Yomi neglected?"

"A truth Yomi may have disguised for his own benefit," she amended. He had never actually _lied_ to her, but saying that he told the truth would have been stretching it as well. Then the question burst forth, "Did you know he's a _father_?"

Kurama smiled almost indulgently as he nodded. "Yes. He has been for a handful of years now."

"But _he's_ a father," she stressed.

This time Kurama laughed. It was short and gentle but it was still born of amusement over the incredulous look on her face. Piper rolled her eyes and tapped his nose with her finger out of habit. A fact which didn't phase the redhead avatar in the least.

"Can you walk?" Kurama asked rather than make the assumption.

With a sigh she shook her head in a negative fashion. "I need some rest. Thankfully we landed in a forested area rather than a city. The I have been told that the air quality there is not ideal for healing. Is it true that buildings now dwarf the great redwoods?"

He nodded. "Not all cities have buildings of such heights, but yes they do exist. And they no longer are thought to symbolize reaching to a culture's deity."

"So it is all ego then," Piper remarked lightly. "By men?"

"Mostly. But that way of thinking also has been classified."

"As what?" The medium asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sexist. A topic which varies depending on where you go in the world. The North American territories are quite obsessed with it. For now, though, it's a topic that can wait. I have one that can not."

"Now you have me curious," she responded as she relaxed back into the mossy tree.

"Spirit World."


	10. Chapter 10

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Ten**_

Piper's eyes narrowed nearly into points as she stared at the redhead. The topic of Spirit World was like a trigger in her mind. Despite the fact that she still felt a whole swell of emotions for Kurama's return, the anger and sense of ruthlessness prevailed in her head. Piper knew that Kurama could feel and see the difference as well, just like she knew that he knew to expect the change in her. He knew it would be one of her trigger topics which was why he'd gotten you into a good mood prior to bringing up the conversation, but not in such a good mood that she would feel a sense of betrayal betrayal. He'd also let her _know_ that there was unpleasant news even before Yomi left. Which meant that he knew it would anger her but at the same time he wanted to make sure that the anger was at manageable levels.

He'd also made sure that she was too tired to do much about anything he said. That sneaky...conniving... _bastard_.

"Tell me you are not working for them," Piper practically demanded though it bordered closer on an accusation.

"Nothing is as simple as it seems," Kurama tried to tell her in a soothing voice.

His hand moved to brush some of her hair away from her cheek. The exhausted medium would have swatted at him if she thought it would have helped, or that she had the energy to spare. Especially when he went so far as to brush his thumb across her cheekbone to wipe off some dirt. He did it with such an air that made it seem like she was just some child he needed to explain complex concepts too.

"They imprisoned me for 500 years, kept me in a state of tormented dreams, hunt you down, dispose you of your first life, and then you give your service to them instead of regaining your freedom. Did I miss something?"

His hand casually moved back towards his side. Piper could see that he was conflicted as he lingered near her. He rocked back as she continued to stare at him through accusing, narrowed eyes. There was a resigned feeling about him, the kind that let her know, in a way, that he didn't see any merit with continuing a fight. Though as far as she was concerned this fight had barely begun.

"A lot has happened in the last five hundred years. Spirit World has a lot more power and authority over everything that happens over all the worlds than ever before," Kurama explained.

" _That_ does not make me feel any better."

"It was not aimed to make you feel better. In fact, I hope that it puts you more ill at ease if anything," he continued. "They have the ability to spy on almost any person and have recruited formidable allies."

"Yourself included," she decided to wedge in there.

"Myself included," Kurama agreed, "in the right circumstances."

"They hunted you down," Piper said in a dull town.

"Enma's special forces hunted me down."

Okay, now he was going around the topic. Piper let out a deep breath. There wasn't a lot that she could say which described the amount of rage she had over the situation. Piper might not be spewing ugly words or anything of the like but that did not mean she didn't feel the white hot burn of what had happened to her. It was just that she knew profanities and yelling at potentially the closest person to her was not going to help matters.

"Enma no longer rules Spirit World," Kurama pointed out.

"Does it matter?"

"It matters a great deal," he said with a small smile. "Koenma is not the same kind of ruler that his father was. He makes mistakes and is infuriating but he is a far fairer ruler than Enma ever was."

"That is high praise from you," Piper spoke out.

It changed nothing though, not really. The millenia old medium knew it should have yet at the same time she just couldn't care about the change. Over more than three thousand years of being alive she'd watched the slow progression of Spirit World. It started as a filing system for spirits so that the world didn't get crowded with the dead and progressed into something that liked to have absolute control over everything. Even which living being could be in what world. Enma, _they_ , had used you to do that last one.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Honestly? Revenge," Piper spoke evenly and he didn't look at all surprised by that. "For every misdeed that has been committed in the name of humanity. For locking me away for five hundred years. For being bossy know-it-alls. For so many things I do not have the energy to think about. It needs to be restructured if not demolished in it's entirety."

Kurama made a thoughtful sound. It was so strange - not something she was used to him doing. It must have been a habit that he picked up in this human life of his. Honestly she was used to him being two or three steps ahead of the conversation without the use of sound effects. Unless, of course, it was to cruelly taunt someone.

"Before you decide on anything, I want you to see the kind of life that Spirit World's control has resulted in for human and demon kind. After all, sometimes people need to do evil deeds to ensure a positive outcome."

"I can not ignore what they have done," she spoke in a sharp but quieted voice.

"I am not asking you to. Merely to see what such deeds have lead to," he assured her patiently. "Any choice you make, I want you to make it a well informed one."

His words did nothing to settle the anger in the woman's system. Piper was sure he knew that. But she had to admit that his words were logical, the kind that she would have told him had the situation been reversed no doubt. Of course, she still liked to think that she _wouldn't_ have paired up with Spirit World no matter the situation. Even if Piper didn't know all of the details of why he entered their service, she still couldn't fathom any good reason for him to have done such a thing. It still felt like betrayal after everything that they had been through together. And the only thing that helped ease that sensation was the fact that she _knew_ he felt that particular emotion of hers from being so close.

"One of these days, curiousity is going to kill me," Piper mumbled with a dry sort of humor and self-depreciation.

The redhead didn't smile persay, but the look was lighter. "It's a good thing you're not a cat person then."

She stared at him quizzically for a moment to try and discern what he meant. It was a new phrase that she had yet to encounter. The confusion wasn't strong enough to be transmitted through the soul bond, not like the anger and sense of betrayal, but Piper was sure that he got it based on the expression on her face.

"It's a saying. Generally a lot of people jokingly categorize themselves and others based on what kind of animal they prefer to be in contact with."

She nodded in understanding, "Evidence shows that I am more of a fox person then.

This time he smiled at the ironic humor. He'd been fishing for the compliment to reassure some sense, of course, and she knew that. But Piper saw no harm in giving it to him.

"Do you still trust me?"

"Sadly, Kurama, I don't think I can ever stop trusting you," she told him honestly. "We are two halves of the same coin."

Without any other words being exchanged he brought his arms around her. It was a slightly different feeling than what she was used to from him. Despite the fact that he was the same soul and _almost_ the same person she remembered, he was in a very different body. His arms were slightly shorter and the height was different. But he carried her without an issue still so there was no need to bring any of that to attention. Besides the most interesting thing was that as she was pressed closer to his chest than before, Piper could feel a faster heartbeat. Youko Kurama may not have been a demon, whom she was convinced didn't have heartbeats at this point, but he was never a human either. Until now, of course. Which meant that he had never had a heart beat around the same rate as hers. It was so _strange_.

"The fire," Piper whispered without moving.

Kurama looked down at her but nodded. She could hear the earth being pushed up as his energy slipped into the ground. Embolden tree roots around her makeshift campsite pushed dirt up onto the fire to smother it until it went out. Not once did either of them look back to make sure that the flames were completely out as he continued to walk through the forest. That did not mean that it was a carelessness for the environment; it was just that both of them knew the amount of dirt it would have taken to successfully put out the fire and she trusted him enough to make such calculations without having to be second guessed.

After about two minutes of walking, Kurama stopped. Even in the dark he seemed to know exactly where he was going. What surprised her the most was the fact that as he stood there he seemed to tense up. She could feel the tension in his fingers as he held onto her. They tightened around her arms and her legs ever so slightly. It was enough to indicate that whoever was coming, or whatever was happening, he didn't trust one hundred percent. Piper would have been more surprised if he did, though.

"I convinced Koenma to allow us to speak in private until we got to the portal location."

He didn't need to tell her anything more for her to understand the situation. Spirit World had a spy or something following them, listening in and reporting back. Whatever she said they would probably try to use against her. And no doubt they would use it against him as well, especially if he was the one who had been sent out to secure her. Piper trusted Kurama with her life so she knew he wasn't likely to turn her back into Spirit World. Which meant that he'd gone out on a limb and used whatever amount of trust they had fostered over the years as leverage for her freedom. Despite Kurama's words on the subject Piper was pretty sure that meant that they were still evil bastards who needed to be taken down. The only difference was that she wasn't going to say anything aloud.

"I understand. Where are we going?" The medium questioned.

Changes of topics generally were better than leaving a silence. Especially if someone was reporting back to another. Silences could be taken exactly for the truth - that there had been more said or meant behind the words than what was actually said. Silences were used between people who knew each other intimately well in lieu of direct speech.

"To Japan. It is where I have been living for the past twenty years."

Well that almost answered one question. He died his first death approximately twenty or so years ago. Which gave him twenty year living in the human world. Judging by the fact that his spirit energy was _well_ above what he would have needed to return to Demon World, there must have been something to tether him to the Human World. Especially since he waited so long.

"Let me guess, the first ten years didn't go as planned?"

She already knew the answer. The flick of his emerald colored eyes down to her face just confirmed her suspicion. There was a lack of negative emotion in his facade nor did anything negative cross the soul bond, though, which gave her a clue that it wasn't all bad. Piper was going with the idea that something had held him back. More likely someone. It would have had to have been one wonderful human that tethered the legendary Youko Kurama to a mortal existence. As mortal as he could be at least.

"We're here," he announced.

Piper gently turned to look in front of his path. There was a shimmery slice through the air that only the most spiritually aware person could see. It wasn't like the portals between worlds as it gave off a slightly different, drastically less ominous feeling. She already knew the rough area that it would take them to - Kurama had told her not but a minute ago that he was taking her to Japan.

"Wait," Piper spoke quietly.

Kurama stilled instantly and looked down. She tried to put him at ease with a softened smile. There wasn't a hint of panic or anything in her body, no more to be expected, nor could she feel anything else through him. There was just a _few_ questions she wanted to ask before stepping back into the country.

"Any major events I should know about for the country that happened in the last...oh, five hundred and fifty years? The language is certain different. I could not understand Shura at all when Yomi showed back up. Thankfully, on that subject, Yomi is a wonderful teacher. And judging by your clothing, that has certainly changed as well. What else? Have they moved the capitol from Heian-kyo yet?"

The man who held her rather securely smiled and laughed. "Yes, it's now located in a place called Edo and the imperial system itself has been revised plenty of times. As for all the other questions burning your mind, they will have to wait. We will have plenty of time to talk once we settle in. But I will warn you that we will attract plenty of stares on the way back to where I live. Unfortunately Boton was unable to get it any closer than twenty-five meters."

"What will draw the most attention? The fact that you're carrying me, the way that I am dressed, or just my appearance overall?"

It didn't take a genius to know that her clothing was completely out of date. Not that it was ever a direct style of any region she'd been to. It had been, in fact, a hodgepodge of things. She had, after all, traveled quite a bit in the early days. Or what she had considered a lot then - now she knew there was a whole lot more to explore. Even with the little exploration Piper had done, she knew that she didn't have the facial makeup to blend in with the population she remembered seeing. Then again she knew that foreign trade (if the country had allowed it in) would have brought different people in for different looks. If Kurama's human body was anything to go off then there had been some diversification over time. Not that everyone looked the same before but she couldn't remember seeing anyone native to the island with hair was red as his. Back in the British Isles, sure, but not in Japan.

"You will draw attention but I believe it will be the fact that I am carrying you which will draw the most," Kurama explained.

"Then set me down," Piper replied.

Even as he moved to set her back on her feet, his look was cautious. She didn't blame him for that. The woman knew that she didn't look her best - she definitely didn't feel her best. And she had told him a few times by this point that she didn't have the energy for much.

"How is the view on women and alcohol consumption?" Piper asked as she tried her best to stay steady.

Seriously if she could fall asleep and not move until she was all better, she would. That sounded so appealing right now. But Piper knew better than most that was not a winning strategy. At least not until she was in a safe environment to do so.

"It varies but it will serve," Kurama replied.

Piper nodded and leaned against his arm, taking a deep breath. And then as soon as the air filled her lungs she held her breath. It wasn't that hard to fake being intoxicated; she knew exactly how she was when she was drunk. Thankfully Piper didn't have to act like she really was when she consumed too much alcohol.

The brunette leaned against him as she continued to hold her breath. It took her a few minutes to get as red in the face as she needed but by that time he and already lead her through the portal. The world which appeared before her eyes was drastically different from anything she left behind. There were so many lights and people bustling by on the streets. The clothing was bright and vivid on _everyone_ , not just the wealthy. And all of this being done while the sun was just cresting over the buildings. All of which had materials she couldn't quite put her finger on. They scattered the sound of everything going on around her in unrecognizable patterns.

So much for pretending to be drunk. With all the stimuli going on around, Piper's really felt like she was drunk. So drunk that she was hallucinating fantastical, unrealistic things. She felt Kurama's hand squeeze her shoulder as his arm wrapped around her back and under her arm to keep her steady. Piper didn't have to fake anything at this point because there was just so much to take in.

"It will be alright," Kurama spoke in a reassuring voice.

"It is a lot to take in," Piper explained breathlessly.

"You have time so relax."

"Easy for you to say. You had the last five hundred years to get used to it," was her retort.

She knew that anyone who passed them, and overheard her, would probably think she was insane. The good part was the fact that no one seemed to pay attention to the words of the person they thought was drunk. There was also the fact that people didn't really seem to care to listen at all. Anyone who noticed them at all seemed to stop and stare, their mouths ever so lightly open and their eyes widened.

"You are a fast learner," he said with a self-assured look on his face.

"This is likely to be my ultimate test."


	11. Chapter 11

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Eleven**_

The place that he resided in was fundamentally different from where Yomi had been. There was very little familiar about the building, nothing that Piper could quite compare it to. It rose two stories into the air and seemed to be made with some uniformed pale yellow rock of some sort. Along with that was metal which had been worked into stairs leading up to the second row of doors. Metal also guarded people from presumably falling off the second floor as well. The doors themselves looked to be made out of some sort of light wood. All in all the _closest_ thing she could compare it to would be some sort of Italian, Spanish, or English poor's living conditions. Piper would have never taken the Youko Kurama she knew to remain in such conditions if there wasn't motivation behind it.

Yet there was a lack of sewage smell about the place. In fact, the air didn't smell of urine at all. There was other scents in it that she wasn't used to. Some of them coyly sweet, others had a bad egg smell that she couldn't identify. But that scent had been all over the city he walked you through, not just that area. The medium had to assume it was just the state of the air in the area he lived. It might not have been human excrements but it wasn't pleasant either.

The stairs were a bit tricker. Piper's body was still weak from trying to live in Demon World. And despite Kurama's silent reassurance that he was doing fine carrying the majority of her weight, she still tried to take them on her own. And for the most part she succeeded. It was just that it had been a lot slower than she would have ever wanted. Piper kept reminding herself that she was not _weak_. It was just that she was _weakened_.

She used the railing for balance once she and Kurama got to the top of the stairs. He unlocked the door and waited for her to move in before she did the same. The first thing Piper noticed was that the rest of the apartment, other than a two or so feet around her, was raised up. To either of her side was what looked to be thin, short cabinets. Most likely for storage. Atop of them sat exactly what she expected from Kurama - a bunch of different herbs. Piper saw that as Kurama locked the door back up he was already slipping his shoes off so she did the same. He had some sort of white fabric on his feet that she assumed function the same as stockings or tabi.

Stepping up onto the raised area the young woman took in the rest of the area. Directly in front of her was a small round table with two wooden chairs. Continuing to her front was a sort of door with what looked to be cracked crystal of some sort for a window, though it lacked that certain glimmer that cracked crystal had so she knew it had to be another material she just weren't used to seeing. To her left was what she had begin to understand as a kitchen, though it was much more foreign to her than the one Yomi had. To the right was an area with a sofa and then an area which had been separated from the main room. Unlike the door in front of the table this one did not have a window and it seemed to be much bigger, capable of opening the entire room up to the main area.

All in all it did not look like a poor person's house. But maybe the level of squalor had changed since she had been asleep. Piper honestly had no way of knowing.

"Is it still so overwhelming?" Kurama's question came with a soothing tone.

"Not as much as the world outside," she answered truthfully.

Despite the fact that this was still really foreign, it was nowhere near the level of seeing _everything_ all at once. It was smaller and had much more of him imbued into the space even with the sparse decorating. At the very least it was a bit quieter and the walls around her gave her a sense of security. It might have been a false security and Piper knew that, but she would take what she could get.

"Good. Allow me to help you to bed," was his offer, though with the sound of steel in his tone the word 'offer' was a loose interpretation.

She nodded. The walk to the bedroom wasn't long and like Yomi he only had one of them in his abode. Unlike Yomi, Youko Kurama lived alone. That was somehow more comforting because at least he didn't have a child running around. Out of everything she had seen since waking up the fact that there was a Yomi Junior by the name of Shura in the worlds had been the strangest.

The room he lead her into was probably supposed to be modest. After he turned on the overhead light she could see all the furniture the room had was a working desk made out of wood, what looked to be a comfortable chair in front of it, a bed which was raised off of the floor like those found around the English isles, and a set of drawers she presumed to be a dresser. On the back wall was a large window, spanning across the width of the dresser and practically touching each wall. All along the dresser to make most of the sunlight that poured in were pots of plants. Some which she _knew_ didn't grow in the Human World. And on the desk were a few stacks of books, none of which Piper recognized. Which, of course, wasn't that surprising. She had been out of the literary world for the last five hundred years after all.

As she started remove the excess layers of clothing to prepare to sleep, Piper felt a familiar tingle in the back of her mind. And even if she hadn't seen his eyes she would have known what that meant. But she didn't say anything until Piper started to remove the fabric belt which tied her pants securely against her body. Even now it held the dampness from her adventures in the pond. Thankfully the top layers had been nearly dry by the time that she'd gotten to human world or she probably would have gotten more stares than she already had.

He leaned back against the desk, arms folded over his chest. Piper knew the look in his eyes and the expression on his face even though both had changed so drastically since she saw him last. There was plenty of interest and it tingled in her mind, warming her chilled skin like coals coming back to life. There was a resignation in that look as well as interest. Piper and he both knew that she was in no state to stroke the fire.

"You could always turn your eyes," she offered nonchalantly.

"Why would I do that?" Kurama challenged.

The medium rolled her eyes at his answer. And she knew the moment when Kurama saw the bruise on her hip because that tingle in the back of her head pretty much went away instantly. It was way more effective than a bucket of cold water. What she could feel was the anger that rose in his well guarded emotions. The only thing that showed was the way he continued to stare because it was pointedly at her face. Demanding; the idea that he wasn't the guy who liked to be in charge was completely scattered to the wind.

"It happened in Demon World," she admitted to the bruise, not bothering to hide it.

"From a fight?" The redhead asked as he continued to stay in his spot.

Piper shook the pants off of her legs, retying the white belt around her top and climbed into bed as she answered him. "More like a negotiation."

There was no use lying to him. Despite the fact that they were around the same age, he was the better one at detecting lies. That might have been because he had animal senses, ones Piper wasn't sure if he still possessed, or it might have been because he was a great liar himself. It could also have been from the bond. Whatever it was she knew better than to even _try_. But she could always dance around the truth until she simply couldn't any more.

This one he seemed to get in one. The seemingly young woman pulled the covers up to her waist, hiding the bruising on her hips from sight but not from mind. They were an interesting reminder to the promise that Yomi had made; Kurama didn't need to know that. He already had guessed enough to make the anger she felt coming from him tighten into an iron ball harder than any sword she'd come across. Harder than the spikes on his favorite weapon. If he hadn't tried to pull it back she knew that it would have an insanely green tinge. Kurama wasn't exactly the kind of person who liked to share. Even if he had been the one who seemed to have decided to walk away. After all he decided to continue his life as a human. And he had been the one to chose his life for nearly as long as he'd been alive. When he chose he stayed with his choice and saw it through. He was stubborn; so when he decided to live his life as a human Piper was sure he planned for it to be forever. He had decided to do that which separated his and her path for the simple fact that he had planned it without her in it. After all, if she'd been suited for a human life she would have continued to live hers that way when back when her birth family had been alive.

"You realize I thought you were dead."

"I could see how you'd assume that," his tone was neutral.

Oh, he was very angry. So much so that she could feel the quivering of that tight ball of anger struggling to maintain it's shape. Piper turned over even though his eyes were still focused on her. She heard him move away from the desk and felt the bed shift as he laid down beside her. Piper closed her eyes and tried not to enjoy it as much as she did. It was the simple things like feeling him lay next to her, feeling the connection literally sooth her soul, which were going to be the hardest to let go. Especially considering the fact that he had been the one to choose the divide, not her. The millenia old medium hadn't chosen this; he had. Now both of them were going to have to live with the consequences.

"You didn't do anything with him," Kurama stated in an assured tone.

Piper turned around to face him, her expression as guilt filled as it was probing. He brushed some of her wayward hair out of her face, kissing the tip of her nose before pulling back. _Damn_ he was making this whole separation idea that she was trying to put up in her head extremely hard to construct. She had a feeling he knew exactly what she had figured out. He knew that Piper figured out he had made a choice. This choice was to live as a human and pretty much everything that it entailed. He had chosen a life with human expectations, struggles and joys. The biggest thing would have been the lifespan and the sedentary style of living that came with it. And she knew, right now, he was trying to make her choose it too.

For the longest time her choices _had_ paralleled his, the ones he had prior to her incarceration at least. This time she wasn't sure if you could live with the one he was asking her to make. Of course he was asking without words. It was in the small gestures like the conversation and in the way he was touching her. He seemed so assured that she would choose him that the guilt she felt for what was to come almost made her want to. But could she really live like the human she was supposed to be?

Piper weren't sure. He deserved more than a 'maybe' and for that matter; so did she.

"And how would you know that?" The brunette asked him, staring into the green of his eyes.

Seriously, they were interesting simply because they were different. There was a softer soul tucked back behind them that made her question how he was the same man. _If_ he was the same man. She knew little of soul transference so maybe it was in her lack of information that held the answer. Soon she would have to find out all that she didn't know about his situation. It was never wise to not know those around her and he was a major person in her acquaintance; a behemoth. Not to mention the idea of soul transference might hold the key to bringing back Kuronue. Piper resisted the urge to reach up to the pendant nestled between her breasts. Kurama would have already known it was there but he didn't need to know the significance.

After all, he had made his choice. Just like she had started to make hers.

"I know you," he said with a smile that was so familiar it hurt. "And I know Yomi. If you had given him more than a promise, he would have never let you return home with me."

Piper tapped him on the nose with her finger, letting her arm rest between their bodies so that he could not simply close the space if it crossed his mind. "Maybe he trusts me more than you think. I gave him my word I would return when I was healed."

"Then I have until you are healed to make you a less than honorable woman."

She smiled at him and held back her laugh. "You can try. And you will fail. I owe it to him to return."

Remember that ball of anger? Well, it started to leak again. Piper could feel it seep out from Kurama like a fog rolling into port. It was thick and almost blinding. Nothing was on his face but just like she couldn't lie to him, he had a hard time completely lying to her. Kurama was very much not okay with the idea of her going back to Demon World...to Yomi. He made no move to pull her to him in a show of domination like he might have centuries ago but that in no way lessened the fury she felt building in him.

"You owe him nothing."

"Funny, that's what he said about you."

Kurama pulled back. His features were very well controlled just like they always were. He slipped off the bed and finally turned off the light. Darkness took the room back over though within moments she could see once more from daylight leaking into the window. It was enough to see how his hands started to pop, as though all of his stress were going straight to them. He reached for the door to open it up, his head bowed ever so slightly. And even though he tried to disguise it there was the feeling of absolute rage born from jealousy coursing through his body. Piper knew exactly what that meant.

"You will stop your scheming to kill him right now, Youko Kurama," her demand was a lot stronger than her actually voice.

He turned back to the medium sharply. Just like that he was the man she remembered, the body that she knew better than her own. His silver hair gleamed in the early morning sun that streamed through his window. The gold of his eyes no longer as soft and gentle as the green she was studying moments ago.

"Or what?" he asked in a whisper.

"Or I will sever the bond and leave us both empty."

He stood there for only a moment. Then his body was a complete blur. Piper knew exactly what was going to happen even if she didn't have time to react. She balled her hands up as he held her wrists by her head with both of his hands. His hair fell over his shoulder in messy strands as his matching tunic draped open.

He bared his teeth at you, "You wouldn't dare."

Piper was in no fear for her life. Not even when he moved to scrape his fangs across her cheek in a show of control.

"Wouldn't you?"

Kurama pulled back. She felt his legs tighten around her thighs as he placed more of his weight on them instead of on his arms. His eyes quickly searched her face. Piper held her resolve even as she felt a low growl rumble his body. The ears folded backwards on the top of his head. It was a sight that only an extremely few ever witnessed simply because of the fact that he kept his expression so controlled. _Very few_. She just happened to see it more often than anyone else. And that was probably because out of the entire existance of all worlds she was the only person he had never contemplated killing. Not even at his worst.

"You've made your choice, Kurama," she said in a quiet voice.

Despite her resolve, Piper really didn't have the strength to argue at him to your full potential. Otherwise she would have struggled in his hold. Or knee him where it hurt.

"And you made yours a long time ago," he reminded her in a deep voice, the tone dark and almost threatening.

"I made it for you but I did not make you live with it," Piper told him as she let out a deep breath.

She gently moved one hand, wiggling her fingers to indicate that she wanted to use it. Kurama's eyes didn't even travel over as he released her hand. Piper brushed her hand up to his cheek and cupped it around where a human's ear should have been. The skin was smooth; she brushed her finger along his cheekbone.

"You've made your choice," was her reiteration.

"No," he denied the sentiments behind that statement.

"Yes. You made your choice. I've only been back with you for a short time but I already figured that out. You made your choice for a human life."

He pushed his head into her hand, cupping his own own hand around hers. His ears were still pinned backwards but not as harshly. Piper could feel his tail brushing up against her legs even from under the covers.

"It's not a choice I am ready to make. And we both deserve more than an uncertain maybe," she told him honestly. "You need to accept that."

Piper felt his hand tighten around hers and suddenly it was all back to square one. His ears flattened back once more as her hand slammed back to the bed. He pressed his body weight down onto his arms and legs evenly, making a more effective cage.

"Never," he spoke with such a deep voice that it sounded more like a growl than anything.

"Stubborn ass."

"You are _mine_."

"You _were_ mine," Piper spat back out at him. "But you _died_. And you chose to remain a human. The fact that you can get your body back so easily and yet you stayed _here_ while I was trapped in Spirit World living through nightmares tells me that you _chose_ to live your old life behind. So stop being a stubborn beast and live up to your choice."

It was dizzying watching him switch back. It wasn't gradual so much as a flicker. Once, twice, and then the redhead version of him stuck. He looked exhausted. His breath came out in deep pants and a light sheen covered his skin. Piper didn't know why; there was a lot she didn't know. Why he looked like he just had a thorough struggle was another one of those things she didn't know.

"I chose to leave my life as Youko Kurama. I did not choose to leave you."

"And I was a part of the old life with Youko Kurama. _That_ is still my life. Do not force me into a choice I didn't make."

That seemed to push something through that thick skull of his. He let go of her wrists and sat back. Piper stared up at him as he moved to un-straddle her legs. He sat back, folded of his own knees, and stared at her.

"Like I said earlier - I have until you are well to make you change your mind. And you will."

"You should not be too sure about that. You know how stubborn I can be. And I do not want to see you set yourself up for disappointment."

Kurama moved off of the bed. Piper could still feel his anger underneath the surface. It was still threatening to change him back into his other form, not that she knew that. But it was mixed with a few other emotions that swirled to disguise one another.

"I don't have any doubt that you will choose this life. You will choose me. You have _always_ chosen me."

Oh that stubborn _ass_.


	12. Chapter 12

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Twelve**_

The sun had already peaked between the buildings to light up Kurama's bedroom when Piper had gotten to his abode. After a few hours it had filled the entire room up, making it hard for just her eyelids to keep all of the light out. And while she had dealt with so many different conditions before that were a lot worse, the medium still groaned and tried to block out the light with the cover at her disposal. Which only ended up making her uncomfortably warm.

Piper turned back onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. It was white and what someone else may have considered plain. For her though, it was built out of material she had never seen before and so all the little nuances that people just got used to as they grew up were the things that she kept looking over. The way the light subtly played through the seemingly natural crevices, however, could only entertain her for so long. The weakened brunette was utterly bored laying in the bed and yet there was a peacefulness about it that she was hard pressed to disturb. So she took the time to let her mind wonder. The past and the present were open for perusal as she took the time to mull things over. After all, life had gotten just a little bit complicated since she'd woken up.

That wasn't to say that her life had been simple and easy prior to being kidnapped by Spirit World. It was just that there was more clear cut distinctions. Kurama was right when he said that she'd always chosen him. No matter what had happened Piper had chosen him; she'd been at his side since...well, practically forever. When he'd decided to take up the art of thieving, she'd been there and went along with it. When he decided to gain enough power to carve out his own territory, Piper had helped him. She'd been there through Yomi and Kuronue, and every so called partner between and before them. He had been the one consistent thing in her life and likewise she'd been the only consistent thing in his. But he'd had five hundred years of choosing things without her; even with their life span as it had been, that was still a large chunk of it.

 _Five hundred years_ and then he decided to stay a human. After all the time Piper had with him that was not something she would have ever thought. It goes to show how much could change in such an expanse of time. And while she was sure she could trust him with her life no matter what there were still a lot of things that also could have changed between now and then.

Slowly Piper blinked, moistening her quickly drying eyes. Her eyelids stayed closed longer than necessary as she relished in the sensation of actually relaxing. Regardless of what she needed to think through or the outcome that she knew was bound to happen, Piper was glad that she had right _now_. It was the small moments that made life worth living. And it was in those moments where all the happiness could be found. If she didn't appreciate the small moments she'd probably get a little unhinged and be impossible to please as she searched for the next great thing to occupy her time to fill it with meaning. Besides, Kurama's bed was insanely comfortable.

Though that _might_ have been because it felt like him everywhere she turned. The scent was different, of course, because he had a new body. That through her off. It was still a pleasant scent but it was new. So Piper had to look beyond that to the whole vibe of the room. Like a bell, it rang out to remind her of him even if he wasn't in the area. She drew comfort in the fact that he wasn't dead like she had first thought. Piper might still lose him because of her choice but at least he wasn't _dead_.

The millenia old medium turned over in bed and blearily looked over to the unfamiliar books he had placed on the desk. Her body was still weak as it recuperated from her time in Demon World. It felt like a thousand bricks were keeping down all the muscles in her body. Like the whole force of gravity was working against her, pulling her head even farther into the pillows than it should have been able to go.

It was a struggle to get up. Piper's whole body wanted to fight her after all of the 'exercise' from last night. It was like if a person who had the flu for a few days tried to run a mile. Normally she could move about and accomplish an extremely higher level of physical activity but right now her body had been knocked through enough hoops. And that was all because she had stayed in Demon World and breathed in the unfiltered air for as long as she had. Piper knew what the consequences would be at the time and now she just had to wait through them until she got better.

The seemingly young woman slid the door to Kurama's bedroom open and moved through his residence. It was such a strange sensation to know that he lived in this place. Piper could feel him surrounding her in something like a comforting blanket. Yet everything about this place was foreign. While she felt safe she also had this gnawing pain in her stomach; she missed being _home_. No matter what Kurama told her or did she doubted that this place would ever be her home. Which was only highlighted by the fact that it took her a few minutes to find where the toilet was. Piper had gotten used to such a device by staying with Yomi so she didn't have to spend nearly as long figuring out how to use it as she otherwise might have. Once she was done with the toilet she poked around through the rest of the house. It was a strange experience indeed.

It was an effort but Piper kept her exploration to what she could observe without pilfering through anything. If she made a mess she wasn't sure she'd know how to put everything back in it's place just yet. And despite the fact that Kurama had left her by herself in his home she felt like it would have been rude to go through all of his things. Though, as she sat back down on the bed to comfort her aching body, Piper had a feeling he would take her curiosity as a sign that she was familiarizing herself with the place. Which, of course, she was but she wasn't doing it to make herself more comfortable to stay for the long term. Piper wasn't going to purposefully give him that false hope because he seemed to be doing that all on his own.

The tired woman relaxed back onto the bed and even pulled the thinnest blanket back up her body, leaving the heavy one skewed about. It may have been an hour or minutes but eventually she slipped back into the sleep her body screamed for. Just like a person who was sick from natural causes, Piper needed rest to heal.

This was the state that Kurama found her in after he got back from work. Prior to coming to get her and bringing her to Japan, he'd had to alert his place of work that he would not be in before lunch. It wasn't something he had done before so there had been plenty of questions, ones he had answered with as little revealed as possible. It had made for a rather unproductive half day at work. In retrospect, Kurama wondered if perhaps he should have just taken the full day off. But then he'd have to deal with the same amount of questions the next day as well so he had figured that there was no point in putting off the inevitable. Well, other than the fact that he could have spent the day convincing Piper of the merits of modern society. As he stared at her resting form he couldn't help but be hit by how frail she was at this very moment.

Last night, or rather this morning, had been a hard blow to his psyche. He had seen how comfortable Piper had gotten with Yomi in what he could only assume was a short period of time. She had practically let all her guards down. And judging from the way that Yomi had hovered over her, she had allowed his protective inclinations to surface. Ones that Kurama had been only slightly aware existed in the first place. Which meant that she had allowed him to see the depths of vulnerability that came with being a human while staying in Demon World. And then Yomi had taken on the role of her protector. Why? That was what Kurama couldn't entirely figure out. He could understand why Piper had done it. It had been a path to survival at that point. If she had truly thought he'd been dead then Kurama knew she would have sought out the best way to inform herself on the changes that happened while she was away. The redhead couldn't blame her for taking Yomi up on his offer to teach her even a fraction of the things she had missed out on. And the fact that he seemed to keep in mind her human frailty for the environment of Demon World was also another factor which would have made him a suitable choice for her at the time. Kurama understood all that. What he couldn't understand just yet was why _Yomi_ had taken it upon himself to do all of that. What was his end game? What did he think he would gain by helping Piper until Kurama got there himself? _Why_ did he help you?

The puzzled avatar loosened his tie, eventually pulling it off. He folded the material and placed it along the edge of his desk. Then the blazer he wore went over the back of the chair. Finally he knelt in front of the sleeping brunette and reached out to run a singular finger down from the middle of her forehead to the tip of her nose. He repeated the action until he saw her light colored eyes flickering open.

In that instance fear set into Piper with a speed that couldn't be matched by anything. She pushed herself backwards even before she could realize exactly why. It took a minute for reality to set back in; specifically the reality that this redhead in front of her was Kurama. Quickly though she got her bearings and she was able to relax once more. It wasn't as though Piper hadn't known it was him once she was awake enough to recognize spirit energies. It was just that as she was caught in the stage in between, all she saw was a male who was still rather foreign. Even though Piper saw the hurt flash over his face, she made no excuse for her actions. Eventually that reaction would subside but for now Piper wasn't going to lie to him about it. That would be insulting.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked, resting the hand that had been stroking her face on the edge of the bed.

"Yes. The bed is quite comfortable. How is it made?"

Kurama smiled slightly as he told her in an ironic voice, "For the majority of it, it is made up of metal coils."

Okay, that was strange. Metal wasn't one of the materials that would have struck her as comfortable. Piper couldn't even feel the area that must have been where the springs were not. Then again that was the whole idea between displacing one's weight over objects. And while the idea of metal coils making for a comfortable bed was hard for her to grasp, the fact that her body weight spread out as it was made it hard for her to detect those coils was not.

"What were you doing?" Piper asked him as she sat up.

Kurama made no motion to move as he answered, "I went to work. A majority of people in the world now are paid for their mental or physical labor. Like tradesmen but in many different disciplines now. Some of which would not make sense without understanding some more of the complexities that have been added to the world by globalization."

Piper raised her eyebrow at that statement. She understood the necessity of having money. And as odd as it was that Kurama now worked to gain the capitol to live in this life, that wasn't what she couldn't quite understand. What she didn't quite grasp was the concept of globalization. It was a word she'd never run across before. For that, Piper supposed that he was right - she wouldn't quite understand the different jobs which had been created by the concept she didn't understand. It was yet another thing she was going to have to add to the ever extending list. Just thinking about the list as it stood made her feel exhausted. There was so much to _do_.

"Do you like working?" Piper asked him instead.

Kurama nodded, his expression returning more to a neutral one. "There are times that it becomes a nuisance but it gives me something to fill my days with."

"And it supplies you the funds to live in comfort in?"

From what she had seen of the place, it was comfortable. There was food in the cold box which Piper currently forgot the name of, even if there was food she didn't recognize in there. He had comfortable furniture. And none of the things seemed dirty or in need of repair. He even had a selection of literature along with other things that seemed to fit in with the idea of a comfortable life. Though she knew he'd have items worth a great deal more if he decorated the place with what he'd taken in his previous life. Even if he chose the ones that were not imbued with mystical properties there was still quite the selection to decorate the place into something fit for a king. A king who lived in extremely small chambers, but still a king. There were some tapestries that would enrich the place. Not to mention jeweled objects and creations of precious metals.

"I'm as comfortable as I want to be," was his diplomatic answer.

Piper nodded to show that she accepted his answer. As she took a deep breath, Kurama stood up. He turned around and moved back through the door, leaving it open. She couldn't see him as he moved through what seemed to be the main area nor could she really hear him. The brunette didn't need either sense to know that he was still there though, it was just a warm silvery feeling in her mind. It let her know he was behind her, in a way. Within moments Kurama returned back to the room. In his hand was a glossy bag of some sort, and it looked to be filled with colorful paper that put even the thinnest Piper had seen before this to shame. Kurama handed her the bag so that she could peruse through it.

What the medium found inside was what looked to be a tiny shirt which would no way go below her breasts. It stretched, but it didn't seem to stretch from all direction equally. It reminded her like a mix of breast wraps as well as breast supports from the time right before she was captured. The next thing was a pair of exceedingly short pants which seemed to match the previous garment in their ability to stretch, and in the color. Piper could only assume by that, that it meant that they went together. Underneath all that was what looked to be a dress made out of soft and supple material. She pulled it out as she twisted around on the bed so that her legs would dangle over. The dress was in a shade of yellow that she'd only seen in very specific flowers. And there was subtle white flowers which seemed to have been dyed or woven in. The texture of it made her think dyed but they all look so uninformed that it was astounding. As Piper continued to pull the dress out she noticed that there was a sash already sewn into the front, long enough to wrap around her twice with some remaining it seemed.

As Piper stood up, weakly, her hands were already working on untying the sash around her waist. It didn't bother her in the least that Kurama was still in the room. Nor did it surprise Piper that there was a lack of lust as she undressed this time. He knew to expect the bruising which, in turn, was already a reminder that she was not well. That was enough to keep any lingering passion at bay before it had time to start to rekindle. The woman slipped off the wrapped outer layer and got to work on the well tied linen wraps she employed to support her breasts. Even after waking up from a coma her hands worked deftly at undoing the garments. Once that fell she quickly figured out how to put on the replacement, the breast support which stretched around her breasts and only a little around her ribs. The fabric had an interesting feel about it but she didn't linger as she stood there, staring at the next two pieces.

Obviously Piper couldn't put the short pants on top of the floor length dress and they matched the breast support more than anything which lead her to believe they were a form of underwear. She pulled them on next, bending over to slip it around her feet. It was then that she felt his gaze turn away from her. Almost as though he were embarrassed to look as she muddled her way through modern clothes. Piper couldn't feel lust from across the connection but that probably just meant that it was a few low level emotions mixing together to negate each other. His refusal to look at her as you finished getting dressed told her as much without needing to sort through the spiritual bond.

After that it was pretty smooth sailing pulling on the full length dress. The sleeves which went loosely to her elbows were made of lighter weight material that the majority of the dress and matched the waist tie in color. Piper tied the tie in a bow just off to her side and looked down. Everything seemed well made with stitches that you could see from the inside seams only, and from what she had seen all looked completely uninformed.

"Either this was for another woman or you found a seamstress that works at speeds to be marveled at," was what she finally said to break the silence.

"Actually, most clothing comes premade now a days. You buy them in stores just like you would buy anything at a market place."

"Convenient."

"Yes, it is. Do you have the strength to leave this room?"

It was a serious question. Already it felt like Piper had a fever from over exertion but she hated the idea that she really was too weak to even dress herself without it being taxing. Unless she was dying from a wound she never wanted to admit to being that weak. Which really meant that she couldn't allow herself the rest which should go with such fatigue. At least not while there was apparently something else to be done.

"If I need to," Piper answered him.

Kurama held out his hand without any other prompt. She grasped it weakly, hoping that by taking such half measures she would regain her strength faster than if she was trying to move about on her own. Still Piper tried to support at least half of her weight as he lead her towards the small round table in the middle of the main room. On said table was two boxes which looked to be made of some sort of lacquered wood. From the context that she had, Piper realized that it was food. Once she opened the lid to the box she realized that she was completely right. It all looked and smelled delicious.

Piper stared suspiciously at such a thing. As far as she was aware, Kurama had never learned to cook anything. Which was surprising because he was the one who had mastered all the different uses for so many plants. Not to mention his sense of smell _should_ have translated to him knowing when different types of food were done. But none of that seemed to mean anything during the time that she had known him. He kept burning even the simplest of things.

"I do not think I can handle it if you tell me that you learned to cook while I was asleep. It would be far too big of a shock," the medium said in a dry voice.

More than likely he had hired someone to cook for him. Considering that he oh so subtly rolled his eyes at her skepticism but made no move to defend his ability to produce edible food, she was going to go with the fact that she was right. It wasn't until Piper started to poke the food with one of the chopsticks he handed her that she got a verbal response out of him.

"I have learned how to maintain a few simple dishes without making them inedible, but no I did not make this."

"Good," Piper said with no small amount of relief.

It was then and only then that she started to eat. Kurama's eyes narrowed at her for the insult but he simply went to sip on the glass of water beside his meal. They ate in relative silence; it was a wonder what a good meal actually did. Piper didn't realize how hungry she was until she started. And by the time she finished she knew that, given the fact that she hadn't eaten so well in a long time, her lack of energy could have been blamed on not having enough food. For a moment afterwards, she had to remind herself that starvation was not exactly the best state in which to heal.

"How long until you believe yourself well enough to venture outside?"

Piper sat down the glass of water and had to think about that. Given that she'd pushed her body past it's limits in Demon World, it was bound to be a few days. But an exact time would be hard to pinpoint.

"I am unsure," Piper answered honestly. "It has been a _very_ long time since I depleted myself as much as I have."

"I see," Kurama answered as he gathered up the empty dishes.

She stretched over the top of the table, arms spread out, as he got up and moved over to the counter space. "If you want me to regain my strength quickly, you know exactly what needs to be done."

The redhead pauses in his cleaning. He didn't even need to turn back around for you to see the resolve he had welled up. "I vowed not to rely on my previous in order to let my past stay in the past. So please understand my decision not to use that method to accelerate your recovery. For years I balanced between two different lives and it did not satisfy me. I found satisfaction in my life as Shuuichi Minamino."

Piper couldn't see his face but she could feel how stagnant the air between the two of them had gotten. If he was reluctant to help clean her system out from the poison of Demon World then there really was no chance of him fitting into the life she still wanted to live. That thought alone made her heart squeeze painfully. At this point she was sure he was used to feeling that by now. Ever since he'd told her he worked for Spirit World she couldn't help but feel the intense sadness that came with betrayal.

In attempt to nettle him Piper brought up, "That did not seem to stop you last night."

When he turned around, his expression was completely still. Like she had just struck a blow. And in fact Piper had. The remark had been aimed at his self-control, or lack thereof in the early morning. She knew exactly what nerve she had hit and she had hit it with the intention to make him own up to his own contradictory behavior.

"I will admit to the fact that my control could have been better last night," he said as he stood, his hands playing with the back of the chair ever so slightly. "But only if you admit that I was not unprovoked."

"I will not shoulder the blame for every occurrence if it is because you can not handle being envious of Yomi," Piper remarked.

Just because they were extremely close did not mean she was going to let him blame her for his lack of control. It was not her fault that he turned, no matter what she said to him. It wasn't like she had put his life in danger to the point where he had no choice but to react on instinct in defense of it. _That_ was the only time that someone should not have control of themselves. It should be over a comment about how Yomi had told her that she didn't owe Kurama anything.

Piper watched as her rebuttal was quickly absorbed and dissected by the redhead. His hands moved off of the chair as he leaned back into the kitchen counter. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, do not give me that look. We both know that is exactly why you became so hostile," the light eyed woman remarked. "If you had not wanted me to interact with Yomi, then perhaps you should have been there instead of waiting for me to return to human world."

"I will keep that in mind," he murmured in a dark promise.

Somehow that was not a comforting thought. In fact, now Piper felt like she should get out of the room before he decided to lock her up for a century. The Kurama she had known jealously guarded anything with even the tiniest amount of value to him. It had been a wonder, in that case, that he had allowed her to interact with any of his associates much less any males at all. Then again that was probably because after he had actually tried to do that when they were young, Piper had made it exceptionally clear that she wouldn't stand for that type of behavior. He might have been born with all the instincts of a fox but she wouldn't allow him to fight every single male that came within his territory. As far as she'd been concerned he had never been a mindless _beast._

"We should not dwell on such negative thoughts," Piper spoke, feeling like the words wanted to numb her tongue before they came out.

Kurama always brought out the argumentative side of her when the two of them were alone. While there were a lot of things that they shared one mind on, there always seemed to be something that needed to be _discussed_. And normally that was no problem. When things got too heated he could always go out for a few days or she could go stay in a human civilization until they were both calmed down. Right now was not like back then - she didn't know enough about the area she was in or how it operated to be able to go out. And while he could always leave for a few days Piper didn't want to see that happen either. He had chosen a different path from the one she wanted and sooner or later those paths were going to have to divide. Piper knew she was only going to be in Human World for a few days before she returned to Demon World. No doubt her choice was going to be enough to cause that rift to really take form. Everything after that was going to be messy and ugly business. She'd rather push it off for as long as she could.

"Agreed."

Piper slowly pushed herself back off the table, rotating her head in an attempt to rejuvenate the aching muscles around her neck. The hours of sleep had made her body feel sluggish but the meal had been a creature comfort to offset that.

"Surely you have a nightly routine after you come home from work, you should continue with that," was the woman's suggestion.

"Will you be alright out here by yourself?"

"Yes, I will be fine."

Kurama hesitated for a moment more before pushing his chair in. He slid the door by the table open and stepped into the room, making it obvious that it was where he was going to be. Piper turned her gaze away from the subchamber he was stepping into in favor of staring at the plants by the door despite the fact that her hearing was so finely attuned to that door closing that it was all she could truly pay attention to.

Which was probably why even as she heard the sound of water falling onto the floor, Piper heard his voice call out. "You could always join me."

The medium smiled in a tired fashion despite the fact that he couldn't see it. She turned her head to the closed door and responded to his baiting. "I thought you wanted to leave your past in the past."

Piper didn't hear the small things he was doing in the room attached to the subchamber, but she could only assume that it had to do with him cleaning up. That's usually what that much water in a dwelling meant. The fact that it could come so continuously on command instead of being a permanent feature was most surprising. Or the fact that it hadn't been prepared in advance. Surely there was no way that his dwelling was on top of a natural water feature. Which meant that this civilization had to have a very advanced aqueduct and irrigation system.

"I thought I told you that you would never be left behind. On top or underneath me definitely, but never behind," the tone he used was just bordering on obscene.

Piper wanted a pillow to throw at him. Or at least have the ability to level him with a dry stare. The walls and doors between the two of them protected him from both.

"Were you not the one just asking me how long it would be until I was well enough to go outside?" She responded back in a dull voice.

She heard him make a sound of contemplation but after that it was all silent. Instead of waiting to see if he was going to try and make another attempt to convince her to step inside of the room with the water fixture, Piper decided to move back to the bedroom. While he was cleaning up she decided to try to go through one of the books he had on his desk. She picked the smallest of the lot and thumbed through it. Before long she found that there was just no way for her to be at that level yet; there was still a lot she had to catch up on. Piper had been able to read a few bits here and there but not enough to claim that she could understand the tome as a whole. Still, she tried to read what she could.

So engrossed in her attempt to better her understanding of what was held within the book that she hadn't heard the water shut off. Nor did she pay attention to the fact that Kurama had moved into the room. Once Piper realized that he was in there she specifically kept her attention on the book. She wasn't going to send any mixed messages on how she currently felt by bringing her gaze up while he was so under dressed. He might have stared at her while she was getting undressed but that was mainly because he was the one who felt alright. _She_ was the one who did not feel physically up to the task that implying lustful intentions would lead to. Which meant that the book became the only thing in her field of view. At least until he sat down in the chair, turning it around so that he could tilt the book away from her lilac colored eyes.

Now that he had a decent amount of clothing on Piper felt comfortable lowering the book. He understood her need to keep her attention preoccupied by that time as he hadn't made a move to grab her attention before that. At least not since he'd walked into the room in search of fresh clothing. The neckline of such clothing vaguely of a new, at the time, style she'd seen when passing through some of the chinese provinces. Though this one looked to be made from a much more refined and precise technique. It looked much more natural on him than the clothing he wore when he came to pick her up.

"I did not mean to make you uncomfortable." he started off. "I am also aware that we are not at the same place we were at five hundred years ago just as I am aware that you are not feeling well right now. Please accept my apology if I made you uncomfortable."

Well, that was something new. He had apologized over the years for a few things but never for the sexual passes he made. Nor did he ever show any remorse for the innuendoes she heard in relative privacy. It wasn't that the Kurama she knew made them often but when he did she'd never heard him apologize for them. In fact, the fact that he was doing so right now made her a little more uncomfortable than when he had made them. There was so much changed just looking at him as it was, it was hard to reconcile the behavior changes with his looks as well. It was just...too much to take in over night.

"You do not have to apologize," Piper started off, trying to gain a less shaky grasp of what she meant to tell him. "I just do not want to encourage what I knowingly cannot deliver my best on."

Kurama nodded in understanding as the tightness by his eyes slowly diminished. He wasn't an overtly expressive person. Sure he showed more signs of emotion when they were alone but other than a flash of anger here and there, Piper had never really seen his expressions change as intensely as human males'. At least not in millenia. So she was glad that despite his apologetic words that hadn't changed. Seeing large displays of emotion (other than that jealous-anger) probably would have made him feel more like a stranger than he already did.

"That's fine. While I want to get you reaquainted with this world as quickly as possible, I appreciate the fact that you are not going to push yourself and endanger your health. There can't always be a Forlorn Hope waiting to solve the problem," he seemed to joke.

It was one that left her a little shocked. The Forlorn Hope? _Really_? What had been so dire that he had tried to use that mirror? It had to be linked to someone's health based on what he said. Someone he cared a great deal for if he was willing to give up his life. But if that was true then how was it he was still here? Piper knew that the mirror couldn't have been responsible for taking away his life as Youko Kurama for the simple fact that it had been Spirit World's doing. Which meant that either he had tried and failed to use the mirror (which was highly doubtful) while he was still a Spirit Fox, or he had tried to use it as a human.

"When did you try to use the Forlorn Hope?" She finally demanded, latching onto the subject with all the concern in her body.

If he had developed suicidal tendencies while she was away, all the gods help him because she was going to tie him down and make sure he stayed alive. Piper did not put up with his ass for all those years just to have him decide to be moody one day and end it. Not after everything.

"Later, perhaps, we'll talk about it. It's a rather involved story. One which would be best held until you can meet another person involved in it. I think it may help you to understand the outcome," he replied gently.

She narrowed her eyes on him. But Piper let it go for now. Because he'd said something very true earlier - they were not at the same place as five hundred years ago. There had been plenty that had changed between now and then even if she had been the one to kind of skip through it.

"Later," she agreed in a quiet tone.

Piper scooted back till her back touched the wall and her legs were stretched out over the short side of the bed. Concern for the fact that he had tried to use the mirror at some point ate at her. She tossed the book into his lap.

"Read to me?"

Kurama accepted the request and turned to the first page, speaking out in a tranquil tone as the story unfolded. His voice, while different, was still similar enough to be soothing. Plus hearing what the story was about might help her piece together what the different lettering systems had become. It wasn't a perfect solution, of course, because the only way to really do that was to study. Right now though Piper knew of nothing else that would entertain her and keep her calm until she was able to fall back asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: A fair warning for those who aren't comfortable with sexual situations: this chapter contains one. I will not go into heavy details but yes, there will be something in here.

 **Raised**

 _ **Chapter Thirteen**_

As Piper recovered, the days had fallen into something of a routine with only a few small variations. Everyday, Kurama would wake up just a little past sunrise. He would dress in what she had come to know as a suit and then head out to work. As he readied for his day she would wake up as well. Though unlike him, Piper had nowhere to go. She did, however, have things to learn. After the second day of him going to work the brunette had found a stack of hard bound books on his desk in place of the ones she'd tried to peruse earlier. These books were in another language that hadn't seemed to have changed as _much_ as others, and the information contained within was vast. Piper started at the book marked with "1" and continued where she left off each day. Of course, some of the information she had to keep cross-checking because even for books meant to educate they seemed to presume a certain base level of knowledge that she hadn't quite earned. These books, Encyclopedias as Kurama had called them, kept her days occupied as he worked. Every day when he'd come home from work there'd be a new outfit. Some of which took more getting used to than others. Sometimes he'd bring home something softer that was meant to be slept in as well.

Once Piper changed, they would have dinner. Then it was on to a bunch of different topics. From the immediate culture all the way to the elusive concept of globalization. She purposefully avoided talking about the fact that as she got better, her days with him trickled away. He, however, seemed to continue on with the folly of believing that she would continue to stay with him. Piper knew that soon she would have to pop that misbegotten idea of his but not having a tense atmosphere to learn was nice. Not to mention she knew beyond a reasonable doubt that she was going to miss him when they finally did part ways. Which was why she wanted to spend as much of her time with Kurama in pleasant conversation over anything else.

It may have been a little misleading on the ancient medium's part but she spared herself from any conversation that might flip that switch into being tense. And once the clock had struck a certain hour, Kurama continued with his nightly routine. He showered, a concept she had asked about early on and found it to be similar enough to her old habits anyways, before slipping on something to sleep in. As Piper had started to wash in the mornings there was no need for him to change the speed at which he washed. There was probably a lot she was already doing which infringed on his daily routine as it was. Like the fact that she knew he was getting up earlier than needed, sometimes before the sun rose, to climb out of bed. Piper wasn't a blushing maiden; she knew exactly why he was relocating himself earlier than his alarm clock demanded. Sometimes though, he'd come back into bed until the clock made those metallic chirping noises to signal the real start of his day.

And then the process would repeat. The only real variation came in the fact that sometimes the conversations at night came with demonstrations. There was so much to learn but it helped when she could actually use it. Which was exactly why Piper was the one cooking dinner that night instead of Kurama bringing it back. On her part, that was a double edged sword type of decision. On one hand Piper asserted a type of independance instead of him bringing back food to the den like a proud fox. His ego was insufferable enough as it was. On the other hand it was also a highly domestic chore she'd done five hundred years ago which could be mistaken as an intent to stay.

"I swear, I will bite you if you even think of touching that," the woman threatened him as she lifted her knife up from the cutting board.

The look on his face as he turned to look at her, standing right beside her as he hovered over the sizzling skillet, was that of pure innocents. As though he had never intended to do such a dreadful thing. Piper knew better though - it had been on his mind _the_ moment the scent started to fill the living space. But if she could wait then so could he.

As Piper started to get back to her chopping, she felt his hand on the small of her back before she realized that another dizzy spell had set in. With how much practice the woman had, she was able to drop the knife instead of slicing through her shaking hand. Piper blinked and clenched her jaw, pulling all her power into her core and bottling it up like a stone. One that should ground her to the Earth which was _not_ moving any faster than it normally was no matter what her vision said. The medium relied on Kurama's help to keep her balance only so long as it took for her to push herself forward and grip the counter.

It didn't take too long for the dizzy spell to leave Piper to return to her cutting task. As she finished with each section she tossed it into the skillet. Small specks of food was scattered about over the cutting board which had been set across the sink to have enough space to work. The rice continued to cook beside her in the rice cooker. Piper was still getting used to that piece of technology but it seemed to be easier to understand and manage than some other pieces she'd been introduced to. Which was probably why the dinner was finished with relative ease. Well, other than her having to be on the lookout for Kurama trying to sample _everything_ before it was done. That was something she was used to, oddly enough, but that still didn't mean she liked when it happened. He might try to pull off the innocent act but she had seen it enough times to know better and for it to have lost it's amusing appeal.

Finally Piper served dinner and sat down at the round table. Kurama looked down at the food and smiled; it was small but the warmth reached his eyes. That was the type of look she'd been hoping wouldn't come up, though a large part of her knew it would. The feisty brunette had wanted to show him that the recover was going well and wipe that smug, providing look off his face even if was subtle in nature. But apparently all she had done was fill in a missing piece of his life. Which she knew might happen but _damn it_ there was no winning with him.

As he sat down, Kurama brought up a new piece of news. "I will not be going to work for the next few days."

Piper looked at him trying to figure out a simple questions of ' _Why and How'_? Though the first part of the answer for that question she knew. With showing more sign of independence, Piper showed him that she was getting better. He had vowed to make her a less than honorable woman by the time that she recovered because he didn't want her to return to Demon World. Which meant that he no doubt wanted to show her more wonders of his so called society and to do that he'd have to have more time. It was the second part of the answer that she hadn't been able to work out just yet. How was he able to not go to work for a few days?

"I have decided to use my vacation and sick days from work," he supplied, surmising what she'd asked with just a look.

"People are allowed to take days off of work?"

Well, apparently they'd found the topic for the night. As Kurama explained the ins and outs of the standard work week and year, they continued to eat the meal. Piper could see a level of exhaustion in him that she'd noticing for the last few days. It was in the small things - the long pauses and slow motor movements. It was as if he was trying to conserve his energy for an emergency because he knew he wasn't at his peak. The medium made no mention of her observations because she knew he was slowly exhausting himself by the reduction in his sleeping hours as he rose up hours before the alarm clock. Instead the conversation twisted its way into an economic stance as well as the talk became about this concept called salaries. Piper understood wages, of course, but there was still so much to learn about what was considered standard in this new world. And she understood that everything she learned could sort of be applied everywhere but mostly she was learning regional knowledge. If she wanted to wander around the Earth there was a lot more than she even _knew_ she would have to know. Still, Piper's understanding of the modern world was getting better by the day.

After dinner while Kurama went to wash up, she cleaned up. Getting used to water being so easily accessable was probably going to take a while but Piper loved the fact that it existed. The ability to have hot or cold water by merely turning something was _wonderful_ beyond comprehension. It made the task of cleaning something up almost fun. As fun as cleaning anything could be at least. By the time that Kurama got out of the shower and into bed she was already between the sheets.

Tiredly she fussed when she felt him slip chilled hands around her stomach because she knew in that moment of clarity that his feet were soon to follow. Piper was right. She could practically feel him grinning wickedly against her head as she squirmed, trying to retain her own warmth. Considering the fact that his bed was, by whatever standards had been set down, only supposed to be big enough for one person there wasn't much room for her to escape him. Much less when he refused to let her inch away at all.

"Hnn, Kurama, not fair," Piper whined quietly, her feet still trying to squirm away from his.

He said nothing though he allowed her the freedom to move her feet away. His hands, however, seemed to have no intention of moving. She contended with that, wrapping her hands around his in an attempt to warm them back up as quickly as she could. Despite the fact that Piper knew it was eventually going to be too warm once the sun started to rise, she still didn't want to be cold while she tried to sleep. After a few moments, the brunette navigated her way around so that she was able to tucked her head against his chest.

The serenity of sleep took it's time to find her; it would have taken even longer to overtake Kurama's active mind. When sleep finally engulfed her, Piper's body completely relaxed - losing even the slight tension that was a natural part of being alive. Dreams were an unguarded part of her night and though she wouldn't remember them when she suddenly awoke before the alarm clock, they had been soothing.

Piper blinked in the blurry light of extremely early day. The lights from outside, the ones that the city kept lit, gave the room a barely there, gentle glow. Just enough for her to see Kurama's silhouette as he sat up in bed. She murmured something nonsensical and pretty much inaudible. Her body lagged behind her mind, the disconnect making it hard to form works from her mouth or to move any of the limbs. Not that Piper couldn't do it if she tried. It just wasn't as though she'd woken up in a situation of danger. So Piper had no true reason to push herself into an active state of alertness. Kurama half turned back around to he and mumbled something back towards her. She was pretty sure that he said ' _it's alright_ ' but the grip of sleep still made everything a bit fuzzy.

Kurama stood up from the bed after he turned back around. Piper reached out and very loosely threaded her fingers through his long red hair. The texture was, in one way, silkier than his silver hair. And in another way it was fluffier. But that was mostly because it was human hair instead of fox. The silver hair on his head had always been of the same feeling as the coat he put on when he reverted back to a truer rendering of himself. Or, rather, what used to be the true interpretation. As he paused she moved her sluggish body, waking herself up as quickly as she could without the need contemplate being in danger. Piper moved to the edge of the bed and sat up, opening her legs so that you could wrap them loosely around the front of his. Kurama looked back to her with a bit of surprise, his green eyes widening as he stared at her best he could from the angle.

What really made his eyes open wide was when Piper moved her hands around his waistband and slipped them into the front. There was only a singular layer protecting his skin from the night air that she had invaded without warning. The woman scooted forward onto the bed, pressing her cheek into his spine, as her hands gently moved along the erection he'd sported since before he woke up. Kurama's whole body tensed up but considering the fact that he hadn't tried to push her away yet, she guessed her actions weren't unwelcomed. Piper's fingers danced over the ridges, every formation was new to her just like everything else about this body of his. When she felt his hands grip her forearms, Piper paused in her ministrations.

"You're still recovering," he spoke out in a tightly controlled voice.

The lilac eyed woman smiled slightly against the soft fabric of his shirt. Instead of instantly answering him verbally, Piper gently squeezed with one hand and ran a singular finger up and down with the other. And though she couldn't see the reaction, she certain felt his hair brush along her face when he tilted his head back.

"I am recovered enough for _this_ ," her words were still slow and husky after being asleep, but they were much more developed than they had been moments ago.

Kurama's hands slid down from her forearms to slowly untangle her fingers. It only took a moment until he had turned around and started to lay Piper back down on the bed. The feeling of lust echoed between the spiritual bond as he lifted one knee back up onto the bed. The redhead's fingers intertwined with hers as he moved, but she stopped him before he'd fully climbed back up.

"Just you tonight," were the three words that fell from her lips before she elaborated. "I'm recovered enough for just _you_ tonight."

Kurama paused and searched Piper's face. He seemed to want to negate that idea. She used her connection with their hands to push back his torso so that he was standing just at the edge of the bed. Piper's legs once again wrapped around him, this time her feet pressed against the back of his calves. His hands covered her's as she placed them on his hips. Or they were until she slid down his bedtime pants. Kurama stepped out of them without blinking, as though it was a casual movement. Much in the same way that Piper did when she pressed her lips against tightly pulled flesh.

He was different, of course, that was to be expected. But his reactions were similar enough; the kinds he used to have when she had teased him for far too long. Or similar to the ones he had when the two of them were within the first three decades of life. Incomprehensible, guttural sounds of encouragement were whispered into the barely lit room. Piper didn't tease or torment him tonight, that wasn't her intention and she made sure that came across. The seemingly young woman relaxed and made sure to be as thorough and as effective as she could so that she could speed up his pleasure. Kurama didn't seem to mind the directness of all her actions; there was almost a sense of gratefulness that preceded his release. And given the finishing position and _hundreds_ of years of practice, there wasn't much in the way of cleanup to worry about either.

He stood against the bed, flushed. His eyes were shut. His chest expanded and contracted as he greedily took in more air than even he probably needed. Piper couldn't see the veins in his arms but you caught sight of them in his neck in the pale yellow light. Just like she watched his body slowly relax as he regained some of his composure. Kurama grabbed a pack of tissues from his desk to remove any remaining moisture. Then he put his sleeping pants back on yet he decided to place his sweat dampened shirt into the laundry pile. Once all that was taken care of, he rejoined Piper in bed.

"Now, go back to sleep," she commanded.

He smiled, the look more relaxed than before as he kissed the top of her head. His arms wrapped around the woman, slipping under the soft layer of her shirt and pressing into her naked back. His fingers curled for a moment, pulling at her until he was as close as possible. With how warm his skin was it almost verged on being uncomfortable but Piper didn't do anything to move him. At least not for five minutes when she felt him rising against her once more. She wasn't sure if you should be amused or irritated by the fact that he let himself get filled with so much lust so quickly that the refractory period where he should be _idle_ was such a short window of time.

Piper pushed against his shoulder so that she could angle herself to stare at him. Or at least the best she could without pushing him off the narrowed bed.

"I did not come here to sate you," the medium told him plainly.

"I know," he murmured in what was supposed to be a soothing way.

Piper narrowed her purple eyes at him and slid her hand back down between their body. She was _mildly_ curious to see how many times he needed before he could truly relax. This time she didn't bother with moving into a better position. Piper used whatever moisture he hadn't wiped off in order to finish the job. And unlike last time she didn't even pretend to be interested in clean up. Piper felt justified in that decision all things considering. Especially when he was pulling at her clothes and rising up _again_ after ten minutes. She moved down his body and pulled his pants back off, folding them so the wet fabric wouldn't touch the floor when she tossed them on the ground.

"How long had it been, Kurama?" She asked, staring up the length of his torso at him.

He propped himself up on his elbows, curving his body so that she could see his face. On his lips was a mixed sort of smile. "Five hundred years, give or take a few decades."

Piper took in a breath and held it. No fucking _wonder_.


	14. Chapter 14

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Fourteen**_

Kurama lay on the bed as the sun had crowned upon the Earth, shining in through the window. It glistened off of all the exposed, perspiration dampened skin. Normally Piper wouldn't have minded the view in the least. His form was a new piece of art for her to familiarize herself with so that you could memorize it. Or it could have been if she wasn't planning on leaving - or so Piper had to remind herself. Either way it was something she should have been able to appreciate more than than she currently did. The reason Piper wasn't so enthused about watching as the sun traveled along the planes of his new body was because of the, honestly, exhausting morning.

What had started out as a mission to offer him relief so that he didn't have to feel like he needed to get out of bed hours before his alarm went off turned into an explosion. When she had told him you were recovered enough to bring him such release from the built up tension, she had thought maybe once or twice would do before he could rejoin her in a deep sleep. Piper was wrong; _he_ had made her estimate seem like a fool's hope. After the _third_ time she had gotten about twenty and some odd minutes of rest before waking up to his desire pressing into her ass once more. Damn anyone who could sleep when there was someone insistent trying to slip past the backside of their thighs because she could not. After that, she'd given up trying to control the situation.

From that point on he'd been insufferable. Some people might have called it _attentive_ and thorough, possibly thoughtful. Seeing as Piper had already been having a hard time walking just a few days ago, he hadn't helped at all. She was pretty sure he'd set you back a few days actually. If from nothing else than all the sore muscles that she hadn't got to stretch for five hundred years. She might not have been a blushing maiden anymore but telling her body that after 500 years of abstinence in the deep sleep was another matter entirely.

Achingly Piper stretched as she sat on the edge of the bed. As though the world was going to conspire against her once more, she looked back to make sure that he was still asleep. His face looked completely at peace. An irrational urge to smack him with a pillow once again rose up but she forced it back down. The brunette knew it wasn't her problem that he kept rising to the challenge, that it was all on him and the unending desire he kept pulling up from that miracle well of his but she didn't like seeing him in discomfort. Of course, she knew she was going to have to temper that soon but everything between then and now Piper wanted to make sure wasn't left as guilt on her conscious.

Seriously though, how was it possible that humans had that much semen? He'd never seemed to have _that_ much pent up in him when he'd been a Fox Spirit and that was supposed to be the more virile between the two. But that might have been because he'd never gone a week without sex when she'd been awake, much less five hundred years. Still, he had a new body so there was no way that it should have been able to build up. Besides, wouldn't that have made him explode if it was possible?

As the millennia old medium popped the rest of the kinks out of her upper body she stood up. Feeling herself on her own legs made her almost regret telling him that she was well enough for the excursion. It had been true for what she originally projected but it felt like she had used up just about all of the leeway with her health that had been made. Though she knew that wasn't really true - it was just that she was exhausted. Mentally and physically...mostly physically. Piper could feel some of her muscles twitching in exhaustion even as she made her way through the bedroom and then the mainroom. She went into the bathroom, doing the normal washing maintenance that she did every day now. Only this time the brunette used the mouthwash and toothbrush over and over again until there wasn't a trace of him left in her mouth and she had a much more thorough scrubbing down below.

Piper completely stilled, eyes narrowing, as she heard Kurama get off the bed. After taking a deep breath she turned around and moved to the doorway, leaning against the opening and staring at him with a blank stare. He did take a little bit longer than she expected but that was explained when she saw that he pulled on a pair of pants and a thin shirt.

"I suppose it is a good thing you decided to take a holiday from work," Piper spoke out in a dry tone. "You got less sleep than normal."

There was a neutral, almost challenging expression on his face as he walked through the room. She watched him with narrowed eyes as she debated if she wanted to go sit down or not. After a moment of watching him get some fresh juice, Piper decided that it was in her best interest to sit down in the chair at the table. She leaned tiredly against the table before finally laying out on the surface, face down in submission to the fact that there was no way to pretend you wasn't tired.

Piper slapped away Kurama's hand when he rested them on her shoulders, kissing the top of her wet head. He chuckled under his breath as he took the seat across from the irritated woman. She peered up at him with a heated gaze, just barely rising her head up to do that before she lowered it once more. He sat with one leg crossed over the other as he continued to sip on the juice he'd brought back from the fridge. It was that kind of look mixed with unwavering confidence that really wanted to make Piper bang her head. She should have known better.

The whole week leading up to last night, or rather this morning, had been a trap and she'd played right into it.

"There are profanities that I would throw at you if I was not too…"

She trailed off as you tried to figure out how to describe what she was feeling. Piper apparently had enough energy to talk to him, but she just didn't have that 'oomph' to make the curses stick.

"Satisfied?" Kurama supplied calmly.

Piper lifted her head up to rest her chin on the table just to glare at him. There wasn't much force behind the glare because honestly, she was more disappointed in herself than she was angry at him. Piper should have _known_ he'd been doing something tricksy. Him purposefully getting up out of bed to elevate the levels of exhaustion to the point where she'd notice had just been a lure. She'd fallen into his trap for multiple rounds of coitus.

The disgruntled figure tilted her chin back down as she let out a deep sigh, turning her head so that her cheek was against the table. Her posture wasn't healthy in the least for Her spine but it felt the better of the two options between that and going back to a very soiled bed. Then again there was always that sofa not too far away. It looked comfortable. Though she had that little prickle in the back of her mind that let her know that Kurama wasn't done in the least. It was like an itch that just couldn't be scratched. Going to lay down on the couch seemed like an invitation even to her. And she was not inviting him into something he'd already tricked her into once damn it. Piper was trying to put _distance_ between them and she'd already messed _that_ up. Multiple time.

"Five hundred years is a long time. You should have gotten yourself a whore when you desired a release."

Piper's tone was dry and honest. As _weird_ and almost sick as the idea was, she had to admit that she probably wouldn't mind too much in the long wrong. Especially since she was supposed to be putting some space between them. Instead if almost felt like to her that she was dragging him along or settling into the life he wanted her to live with him. Piper wanted to go back to Demon World and...and...well she wasn't sure but damn it she wasn't ready to live like a normal human yet. Maybe in five hundred years but if he persisted with this whole human thing of his, then he wouldn't be around to see her getting ready for that transition. He'd be nothing but a pile of bones and a spirit somewhere in that damned Spirit World. And now she really was feeling depressed. Damn it. There was no winning.

Kurama shifted in his seat, his hand foot brushing up against her knee to get her attention. He wasn't even trying to be subtle about it at this point. The look in his eyes as she raised her head up was completely serious, as though she had just offended him in every way. Like the people who had tried to steal from him in the past. It didn't burn with hatred so much as it was a look that told someone he lacked in mercy.

"That thought will never cross your mind again. Do you understand?"

The medium let out a long breath as she blinked, staring at him with a lack of anything exuberant. There were so many things that she felt about last night, not to mention the entire time she'd met back up with him. Disappointed and frustrated at herself as well as maybe more than a little irritated at Kurama. Then there was the whole fact that he _might_ have also been right about the fact that she was satisfied - and she would never say that aloud because he already knew that.

"I am not saying that you should put yourself in a space of unreasonable vulnerability, just that you should not wait five hundred years to have sex. I have have never expected that of you."

Her words did nothing to lessen the look on his face. If anything she made it worse. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Really, she must have been on a spree with pressing all of the sore subjects he had. First she'd found out that he really didn't like the fact that she was going to return to Yomi in Demon World. And now he was not pleased that she'd given him permission to actually see to his own needs.

As Piper slowly lifted her head back up, Kuronue's pendant dragged on the table. For a moment Piper felt like Kurama was going to reach out and take it off her neck. She'd almost held her breath waiting for such a thing, though it had really only been a hitch in her breathing as she stared at him. Kurama was not pleased in the least. And that probably stemmed from the fact that the topic she had moved onto was not one he wanted brought back up. While he had thousands of years of wisdom and experience on his side, at his core he was still rooted in the principals of his species. Which, funnily enough, should have lessened considering he was no longer of the same species...well, not entirely. If anything, from what Piper could tell so far, he seemed to have clung to his core foundations even tighter than she remembered.

"No," he simply said as he stared at the woman before him.

Foxes, by large, were monogamous; males particularly. Males stayed with the same female until they died of natural causes or were killed - that was about the only time that the female took a new mate. And while that could technically apply to the situation Piper had a feeling Kurama wasn't about to see it that way no matter how she explained her side of the story.

"Kurama, you are human now. By our very being, humans are not as monogamous."

Every single hair on the back of Piper's neck stood on end. The implications of her sentence was not lost; though she honestly hadn't meant for them to be as prominent as it came out. The whole situation with how Kurama had found you with Yomi was quickly trudged up and mixed into the meaning of her words. She planned on returning to Yomi and though Piper had no intention to engage in a relationship with him, she had never verbally ruled it out either. Nor was she going to as it was foolish to deny possibilities before everything was taken into account.

Piper could see him taking in her words in that sort of reflective way that made him such a good strategist. The fact that she was doing the same in reverse notwithstanding. Kurama leaned forward, his hands folded as he stared directly at his companion. She already knew that whatever came out of his mouth next was not going to be a pleasant thing. The plants around him already confirmed those suspicions, they seemed to shift as his energy leaked out in all directions. Danger - everything around could probably sense that. His body flickered in his seat once before he kept himself from turning, as though to remind her just who she was truly dealing with. Like she could forget.

"If he so much as touches you, I will personally see to it that whatever punishment Koenma could come up with for the darkest of souls looks like a restful respite to him."


	15. Chapter 15

**Raised**

 _ **Chapter Fifteen**_

After he delivered his threat Piper went quiet. There wasn't much that she could say in return. She knew that the threat which he laid down was serious. If he felt that he was able to, at any point in time, Kurama would go after Yomi. It may not be head on as most people happened to attack others. It might not even be right away. But she had never known Kurama to make threats or violent promises he didn't fully intend to carry out. Of course, in this case, Piper had expected such a threat to be issued. He didn't really share well with others; at least not for the things which he held any regard for. And while she might not be a trinket or enchanted item which could be bought, sold, or used in the ways that items could be used...Piper was still something which he held in high regard. The fact that she was a _person_ only made him that much more protective and possessive.

Which was why the brunette didn't say a single thing to agitate him no matter how much she wanted to. He had worked himself into enough of a temper tantrum that he had started onto the worse-than-death threats early on. There was no reasoning with him when he got into such a state. Piper stood up from her chair and slowly made her way over to the couch. The bed was soiled beyond what she meant for it to have been. Normally she would take the time to clean it and fresh up the space but honestly she was bone tired. There was nothing in her that had the energy to even consider removing the protective fabric off of the contradictory bit of modern society. Instead the woman chose to brave the couch - trusting that the upsetting conversation and her exhaustion was enough to keep Kurama's mind from straying back to the lusty path.

She was correct. Other than that itch that had been there since she'd gotten back to his apartment, there there was no other spark of desire. Piper relaxed back onto her back, loosening the collar of the dress she'd put on after her shower. The loose, long skirt had fabric so thin that it molded against her legs when she was no longer standing up. After she'd gotten comfortable there was little that Kurama could have done from stopping her from taking a nap.

What he did do was continue to sit at the table, staring at Piper's sleeping form. It wasn't an intensive stare as he moved his gaze away every so often in order to not wake her up. He had a lot to contemplate as she took her nap, a lot of emotions to pull back into his tightly held control. There was an irony to the situation he was sure. He was a three thousand year old fox who was known for not having emotions as far as his adversaries were concerned. Yet in the course of a handful of days he'd shown heighten levels of aggression (and more) to a three thousand year old ally. Of course, Piper wasn't rattled by such emotional displays as she had seen them more often than any other living person. It was just that Kurama was uncertain if such displays would prevail during the time he had with her to the point where it could be a distraction.

Some part of him hoped so, it would be a break from the monotony of life. The more realistic, logical aspects of his personality realized that such a shift in his personality in public would not go unnoticed. Especially if he introduced her to the people that had known him for the last few years. He knew that Piper wouldn't purposefully put him in a vulnerable or emotional state in public; she knew him well enough to know what those points of contention would be as well. Or at least, she wouldn't do such a thing if she was unprovoked. And he knew the topics in which would provoke the medium to agitate his emotional state. Honestly - they were probably the topics that they needed to spend some time working out too. Which was going to make them very tricky to navigate. Especially given that all he really wanted to do was keep her locked up in his apartment away from every other person so he never had to share. After all his years away and the years of his aggression being tempered out with his own human compassion, one would have thought that he'd have learned a little restraint; a little sense of the ability to share. They'd have been extremely wrong. If anything the pull to keep Piper all to himself felt stronger now that he knew what it was like to not have her.

It wasn't too surprising really. He'd never learned how to bare and share his soul with others during the last five hundred years. And that's essentially what he'd be doing if he had to share her. Kurama refused to do that on principle. He was not going to share the most intimate corners of himself with anyone else - _especially not Yomi_.

He stood up from the table and moved over to where the brunette rested, taking a knee. His eyes softened as he stared at her sleeping form. The tension had faded away from all places, jaw slackened and almost left ajar as she slept. Her body curled, face towards the couch, as she unknowingly waited for him to join. Kurama had to admit that the temptation was great; neither of them had really gotten very much sleep this past night. Of course that wasn't a source of irritation for him. It had been a long time since he'd been secure enough in the presence of someone else to even contemplate putting himself into such a vulnerable position that intercourse intrinsically required. He'd almost, _almost_ , forgotten the nerve tingling rush that came with release or the languid comfort that came after. Not to mention the anticipatory buildup. All of which he knew would get better once her health had improved for good.

Kurama's hand gripped his knee as he leaned forward, brushing his nose against Piper's exposed ear. She shivered, for lack of a better term, in her sleep as goosebumps rose to her skin. The redhead smiled ever so slightly at that reaction, pressing said smile into the back of the woman's neck as he moved her damp hair aside. Slowly he leaned backwards once more, hand slightly twisting in the length of her hair, but not before noticing the silver string around her neck. He had already known what was attached to the chain but somehow the visual reminder accentuated the situation.

Even now you clung to the past by wearing Kuronue's pendant. The very same past which he'd tried for the better part of the last few years to truly put behind him. With deft fingers, Kurama removed the necklace and stood up. The pendant rested in his palm as he looked it over with calculating eyes. He could remember when the bat demon had first gotten this particular piece; it had been from his very first heist. And he'd clung to it fiercly. So much so that going back for it when the chain had snapped had cost Kuronue his life. Kurama's thumb brushed against the deep red stone, the light reflecting just right to make a gleaming streak. That gave him pause as did the feeling that seeped through his pores. It was like touching the shoulder of an old friend - a sensation that, even to this day, Kurama did not feel that often.

His eyes narrowed on the piece as he stood up swiftly. After the ordeal with Kaiki impersonating his old friend, it was understandable that Kurama was weary of anything to do with his old partner. Especially this particular pendant. His fingers curled around the red stone and the matte metal that surrounded it, chain dangling as he walked to the bedroom. After he'd picked it up in the urban bamboo forest he'd made and stashed it away in one of the few places he might have called home, Kurama had thought he'd never see a reminder of the bat demon again. He'd been wrong. Just like he'd been wrong about Piper never getting out from under Spirit World. Now that she was, Kurama decided he wasn't going to compete for her attentions with Yomi _or_ the past. He might have learned a lot in his time as a human under the guidance of Shiori Minamino but that didn't include sharing.

He laid the pendant down on the top of his dresser with a hint of caution. Kurama went through his sock drawer and pulled out one silk pouch, sweeping the necklace into that before clipping it closed. He might not like the idea of sharing her, even with a ghost of the past, but he wouldn't dishonor his past partner's memory by treating Kuronue's prized possession like the jealous lover he actually was. Besides he knew that removing it was already going to strike her ire. He didn't want to metaphorically shoot himself in the foot by disposing of the trinket.

Red hair slipped over his shoulder as his head turned sharply in the direction of where his front door was. Green eyes took a less irritated tone as he realized that he was about to have a visitor. Although, Kurama wasn't sure it was the best time to have a guest. Especially considering that Piper was trying to catch a few hours of rest on the couch. Idly Kurama reminded himself that he would need to change and remake the bed soon; the washing machine was going to be a lesson he'd need to teach her about soon. He was pretty sure that her current method of washing articles out by hand in the kitchen sink wouldn't surfice for things as large as bedding, although there always was the bathroom tub for that. Still, he recognized the convenience of the washing machine and once she got used to the technology he was sure Piper would be in favor of it too.

Right before his visitor could knock, Kurama moved back through the room. He'd opened the door before the fist made contact with the wood. The fact that Piper was still asleep with a stranger approaching spoke to how she intrinsically trusted him to protect her while she was sleeping. But Kurama was not going to bet on her rest being undisturbed by loud, almost violent sounds. Cool green eyes swept over his friendly visitor without taking a step back from the door.

"Hello, Yusuke," his voice was soft, nearing a whisper.

It was obviously too much to hope that Yusuke had returned the tone in kind. Though to his credit he hadn't yelled out anything and his introduction had been kept short. "Yo."

Kurama took a half step back through the entryway, slipping the shoes back off appropriately. With the half wall of cupboards shielding the couch from sight, Kurama knew that Yusuke hadn't spotted Piper just yet. Though he'd be a fool to assume that the mazaku descendant hadn't already sensed her spirit energy. Given that it was heavily intertwined with his own at this point, it was readily disguisable from a distance but up close there were the nuances that Yusuke should be able to pick up now.

Before Yusuke had the chance to say anything else, the redhead simply said: "Please keep your voice down. She is finally resting."

As they got to the table and sat down, Yusuke's eyes took in exactly who Kurama meant. The brunette woman laid on the couch, content and safe in the knowledge that there wasn't anything violent going on. She trusted Kurama implicably even if she disagreed with him every so often. As long as everything remained calm, Piper would most likely sleep through this meeting.

Yusuke let out a low whistle as his eyes traveled across all her features, face and body alike. The not so subtle appreciation wasn't something Kurama felt the need to be jealous over. After all, it was more of a compliment to her than anything. He was perfectly fine with people looking it was just that whole touching and taking her away aspect that drew his ire.

"She's the one Koenma's freaking out about huh?" Yusuke started in, keeping his tone surprisingly low and the volume quiet. "Gotta say, she's better in person than on those cameras."

Kurama nodded, a small smile tilting his expression. "What would Keiko think if she heard you say that?"

Yusuke's attention was drawn back to the redhead, a slight look of betrayal across his features. "Come on man, that's not fair. I'm just looking. It's not like I went up and kissed her senseless or anything."

Kurama made a sound of contemplation, though it was really more in agreement than anything else. He leaned back and folded his arms, giving the former spirit detective a probing expression. Yusuke hadn't come here for a social visit; that wasn't something that happened with him. At most their interactions were handled over the phone and then sometimes they'd meet up in the public sphere. Not as often anymore for obvious reasons like conflicting work schedules of course.

"You wouldn't be able to," Kurama pointed out, not really missing a beat in the conversation despite trying to prod Yusuke's topic change.

"Hmm?" Yusuke asked in slight confusion. "Wouldn't be able to what - kiss her senseless?"

The redhead nodded. Yusuke's face took an instant turn, he could practically see the prankster coming out. And it was one that, given their current conversation, Kurama had a disliking for instantly. His eyes narrowed in on the dark haired male as he got up, looking like he was about to take on the greatest challenge. Before Yusuke even had time to contemplate it further, Kurama spoke up once more. Only this time it wasn't with a friendly tone. If anything there was a deadly promise held in his words.

"If you attempt such a thing, Yusuke, you will regret it."

Yusuke looked back to his friend as the expression faded. "Gheese, issue a guy a challenge and then bite his head off for taking it up. What's gotten your panties in a twist? Or are you suffering from blue balls or something?"

Kurama turned his attention towards the open bedroom door. The sheets and blankets were still pretty much everywhere. As were the original articles of clothing. Given that he didn't want to lie to Yusuke, he figured that the clues left in visual sight was still more polite than coming out and saying it. Besides, the look on the former detective's face was priceless.

"Now, if you'd tell me to what honor I owe this visit, I'm sure we can find more diverting things."

"...I don't know, that's pretty diverting," Yusuke replied in response to Kurama's visual admittance.

"Yusuke," the redhead prompted in a warning tone.

"Alright, alright, fine. Koenma is just worried that you've joined the dark side or something. And I was worried that I misjudged her or something. It wouldn't be the first time."

Kurama nodded and with a friendly expression he told Yusuke, "I'm perfectly fine."

"If you say so man. Koenma just made her seem like she was trying to bring about the apocalypse and you were the only thing standing in her way."

"Oh, I most likely am. But I can promise you that I am in no real danger."

"Yeah, I can see that now," Yusuke said with a grin. "So, was that your plan all along? Seduce her to the good side or something? Cause I gotta say that it's an underhanded trick."

"I did no such thing," okay so maybe he had a little bit but he wasn't about to allow Yusuke to take off with the wrong idea.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say."

For someone as brash as Yusuke, it was still surprising at how perceptive the young man was. Of course, he couldn't pick up on everything but he was an interesting judge of character. And he seemed to know when someone was not telling him the full truth. It was a talent that he'd picked up and gotten better with after dying for the first time. Kurama was sure that it was possibly one of the reasons as to why Yusuke Urameshi was still alive.

"Look, I know she's sleeping and you're probably going to want to rest up a bit too, but I wanted to know if you wanted to do something. I came over to check on you and see if you wanted to go out."

"I'm flattered Yusuke, but my preferences run elsewhere."

Yusuke seemed to get ruffled by that, and Kurama's amused smile did nothing to alleviate the situation. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant as friends okay?! Look, whatever. Kuwabara's just been bugging me recently about getting the band back together for a day out. And I'm sick of hearing him complain. Plus it might get toddler off of my back for a while. You'd think after I stopped working for him he'd stop being such a pain in my ass. If-"

"I will see if I can make it," Kurama cut him off; regrettably it was a bit too late because he could see Piper's eyes open at the increase of volume. "Was that all?"

The young man stopped mid rant. He looked at Kurama then back at the previously sleeping woman. She was sitting up on the couch, looking weary. And from the look he'd gotten from Kurama, Yusuke knew it was his fault. Which put him on extremely thin ice. He didn't exactly know the whole circumstances but he did know that whatever it was, whoever she really was, Kurama was extremely protective of her. He didn't exactly want to stick around and feel the manifestations of his friend's irritation if Yusuke had been the one to cause the woman sleep deprivation. The fox felt snappy enough as it was.

"Yeah, that was all," Yusuke said as he got up from the chair. "I'll give you a call and let you know where and when we're all meeting up. You can bring along the girl too."

Kurama nodded in acceptance of his words, walking the younger man back to the front door. Yusuke was slightly stunned when the door had been closed in his face the moment he turned back around to say something.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I just wanted to say that I apologize if there are any editing errors in here such as remnants of the second perspective. I first write these stories in the second view before eventually switching them over to the third. Which leaves errors. I apologize if it is distracting. Unfortunately my life at this point in time is too bogged down by drama llama life stuff to leave me very much time to edit once I post something up.

 **Raised**

 _ **Chapter Sixteen**_

The first thing that Piper realized as she completely woke up was the fact that she had, actually, fallen asleep like planned. Although judging by the way that the sunlight lit up the room, Piper figured out that she hadn't been asleep for long. Just long enough for Kurama to invite company it seemed. The fact that she was so drowsy was an indication that she'd been sleeping rather well too in that short time. The second thing that the sleepy woman realized was the fact that there was something missing. The weight that had started to become a familiar thing was not there. Her hand went to blindly search around her neck then down her torso to see if the clasp had broken and it had slid down. When she realized that it wasn't there Piper started to search for it on the couch with her fingers.

Kurama noticed exactly what she was doing and some part of him felt a bit disappointed. He realized that Piper wasn't ready to move on from the past on her own. That was exactly why he was trying to help her through it. He also realized that she'd placed a great value on wearing the necklace without bringing it to the forefront of his attention. Which meant that it lead him to believe that in some way she was trying to hold on the necklace to remind herself not to move on. And while he was willing to extend a gratuitous amount of patience towards her reintroduction into the world he didn't want to make it any harder on himself by allowing Piper to cling to relics of the past.

"It hasn't been lost," Kurama said as he stood near the door.

His face just rose over the plants that sat atop the shelving units acting as a half wall by his front door. He could see every thought that ran across her mind.

"Where did you put it?" Piper asked.

"It is safe in the bedroom," Kurama told the medium as he moved away from the front door.

Piper hesitated as she looked to where the bedroom was. After figuring out that the relic had Kuronue's soul in it, or at least a fragment, she was timid about letting it stay alone. Especially in a world that she didn't know anymore. The only good thing about Kurama putting it away was that she did trust him. Despite everything that had gone on she still trusted him. Piper might not have liked his decisions, she might not have even have been able to respect them, but she trusted _him_. He'd stolen countless things over the millennia from people but anything he'd acquired from her had never really stayed out of her possession for long. She was satisfied in the knowledge that she would be able to get the pendant back soon enough.

"Come," the redhead said as he held out his hand to help her off the couch. "I have some people that I would like you to meet. I can assure you that you'll find their presence entertaining."

Although the brunette didn't actually need the assistance to stand up, Piper took his hand none the less out of habit. Her thoughts were more on his words. His recommendation of the people he wanted her to meet was high praise, of sorts, coming from him. If they were amusing enough to warrant an actual introduction that also spoke to the fact that on some level he enjoyed their presence enough for repeated exposures.

"Will I need to know you as Shuuichi Minamino or as Kurama?" Piper asked after she stood up.

"Both," he spoke with a resting yet mildly pleased expression. "It's a long story which I will tell you on the way, but they already have a general knowledge of my past life."

She nodded quietly as she went to get ready. Once more Piper's thoughts went to his words as she busied herself. He spoke of the time as Youko Kurama as his past life, a distinct separation of time. She knew that he'd made a grander show of civility and desire to move on from that life almost entirely. It just kept getting pounded in when she least expected it to happen. The life that she was used to, the one that Piper wasn't ready to move on from, was his past life, not the life in the past; it was a small difference really but it had large implications.

There was something interesting about seeing a large man fawn over a bunch of cats. In fact, she was hard pressed to hide the smile on her face at the scene. The orange haired man who went by the name of Kuwabara had picked an interesting place to meet up at. His friend, Yusuke, seemed less entertained by the choice that his friend has made. Piper wasn't quite sure over the place's appeal but it was amusing to watch the man fawn over the fluffballs that kept making such a ruckus. Still, she didn't want to be rude and point out the idiocracy that was played before her. It really wasn't for her to judge if this childish behavior was acceptable for men to have in society seeing as she still didn't quite understand the new version of the modern world.

Piper leaned down and held out her hand to the bunch of felines that Kuwabara was having a hard time attracting. The orange haired man looked at her with a friendly grin before going back to try to encourage the cats to come out for some type of dried, salty smelling kernels on his hand. From what she had gathered it's what people fed their cats now a days.

"Come on, don't you want some food?" he tried talking to them, seemingly distressed on their behalf.

Trying to help put Kurama's friend back at ease Piper released a bit of her aura. It was like an energy hook that drew that cats in slowly but surely. The man beside her sensed the change in her spirit energy as it mingled with what naturally made her a medium. Kuwabara's face was one part confused and another part astonished as the cats started walking to her open hand. They danced around it, rubbing their faces and bodies along her hand all the way down her exposed forearm and continued to ignore the food held in his. Idly she wondered how strong their scent marking would get from these simple, possessive acts of the co-dominate cats in the area.

Without commenting at the look on Kuwabara's face Piper reached into the clear bag of salty kernels that were meant for the animals. Before she'd even made it back towards her body she had the cats' interest. By the time she had it out they were all practically pushing and shoving, their raspy tongues licking up every grain that they could find.

"What's wrong with the good I have?"

Piper looked over to the very expressive male and smiled good naturedly even as she took note of how many cats had started to come out of the wood works. "Nothing is wrong with the food. You just seemed concerned that they weren't eating so I suppose you could argue that I'm cheating."

"What? How?"

He seemed very interested in what you meant so you decided to indulge him. "As a medium, I have a way with living creatures. It is something to do with life force and the way mine feels to them. If I released my aura as I have just done, I could walk into a swarm of angry bees and never fear being stung."

"That's neat. Why don't you have it that way all the time then?"

The brunette motioned around her to the street full of cats that had decided to pay homage and demand attention. "I do not have a say in what gets attracted to my life force. Imagine waking up covered in snakes or rats. Or to a few different animal spirits or demons demanding to know what you were."

There'd been a few times that some of the demons had taken it a little too far. It wasn't that they'd gotten violent per say, it was just that they'd gotten too friendly. Piper hadn't even gotten the time to try and deal with them herself before a green, thorny vine had been wrapped around their neck. Thankfully their death hadn't been dragged out for too long. Although she was still pretty sure that decapitation was not exactly the nicest way to meet the afterlife.

While her words caused Kuwabara to shiver, Piper felt herself being licked and nudged by as many cats as could reach her. There was even the sound of cat fights about to start up judging by what she could hear. And though Piper had good balance, cats walking under her and brushing up with all their might as they tried to put their scent over every single inch of her body did eventually throw her off balance. That was the cue that she'd let it get a little too far.

As Piper pulled her aura back into her body, she spoke out in a humorous tone to the austoned Kuwabara who was doing his best to personally pet each and every cat that had knocked her off balance. "I am just thankful that what you call insects do not have the exact same reaction as other creatures."

Sure Piper might not get harmed by walking to a swarm of them, but just as luckily she didn't attract them either. It would have been horrible to wake up and find herself covered in ants or spiders; truly the stuff of nightmares. Considering that she had lived with Youko Kurama who could get inventive over punishments or how he killed people...that was saying something. Then again, it wasn't about the pain so much as the fact that there could have been _spiders_ and _ants_ crawling over every surface of her body.

"Don't you ever get tired of bottling it all up?"

Even though Kuwabara had spoken calmly and clearly, Piper still didn't understand him. After all she was still re-learning the language and a lot of the expressions were lost on her.

"I do not understand."

"Like, don't you get sick of keeping your energy to yourself? Doesn't that make you feel tense?"

Piper shrugged slightly without giving him more of an answer than that. It was one thing to divulge information about what she had let someone see her do, it was another to give away any hints to what could be done. After all, the brunette wasn't the only one affected if she told Kuwabara the truth. He was right though, it did get stifling to keep it bottled in all the time. Which was why when she released her essence in the past it was always in unison with Kurama. The strength of his more aggressive spirit energy was like a warning to all creatures who tried to get in close despite hers practically opening the door for them to come visit. Of course, this was always done in the human world. Kurama might have been a lot of things but he'd never been on the very top tier of power. His aura only deterred those who were weaker than himself. Which was still most of demon world but they had both decided a long time ago that it wasn't wise to press their luck just incase she did attract a demon who was stronger than him.

As Piper tried to stand back up in the clowder of cats, which was thankfully slowly dispersing as the food ran out, she felt more than saw Kurama nearing. With him came Yusuke who had that sort of attitude that he couldn't care either way about whatever was going on around him. It wasn't that he was pretending to dislike what was happening and more along the lines that he just wasn't interested.

Kurama held out his hand as a way to offer assistance as the cats cleared out from around him. The medium knew that she could stand up without help but it would have been rude to decline after he offered it. But once she was completely back up, Piper realized that his hand wasn't offered for pure politeness. Discretely his fingers kept rubbing at the areas that the cats had licked the most, which had pretty much been her entire hand. As the group started to walk down the path with Yusuke in the lead and Kuwabara digging into a bag trying to find more things to feed the cats, Kurama's kept her hand between his and her body as he rubbed at the skin in a distracting fashion.

Piper looked at him for a moment with a bit of confusion. Sure she knew what he was doing, which was trying to recover her with _his_ scent and not that cats, but what she didn't quite understand if it was just a habit from bygone days or if he could still smell other scents. Considering that she was human, Piper knew that she couldn't smell other people's scents unless they were up close and sweaty. Which most humans were, actually, considering that ritualized bathing on a daily or every other day basis was a modern concept. But she also knew that unlike some demon or other animal's noses, that a human's sense of smell was very underdeveloped. Piper had seen Kurama track down people or things by their scent along and was able to make distinctions in it that had been beyond her wildest day dreams until he had shown her that it was a possibility.

In a much older form of Japanese than either Kuwabara or Yusuke would have understood, Piper questioned Kurama, "Did you retain your fox senses?"

"To some degree," he acknowledged.

That was surprising, actually, and no doubt that showed on her face. Kurama smiled as though something had gone in his favor. Grudgingly she had to admit that he was probably right to think so, despite what she would have prefered. Piper felt the tightness born from excitement in her gut that she tried to squish back down. The sensation that made her wonder if it wouldn't be so different to lead this life after all. But that was just some part of her that she knew was desperate to not have to make the hard decisions which were coming up. It was a part of the woman that wanted to stay with him and it wasn't exactly a small sliver either. She just knew that despite how much she wanted to stay, she couldn't. Not only did she have a promise to keep to Yomi but there were other factors that came into play.

So in order to try to combat the similarity that popped up, as cruel as it was, Piper reminded him, "Then you know that you now lack the scent glands to truly cover up their scents."

Kurama's hand tightened around hers as his eyes steeled over. She did feel bad bringing up something he could no longer do because of his human physiology (although how he retained a heightened sense of smell she didn't know) but at the same time she knew that it needed to be pointed out. If he was going to insist on this life then Piper knew she had to help break him of some old habits that might have had baring at some point but were long longer applicable. There were sure to be a lot of them. Just like he was trying to adjust her to modern life she had to try to adjust him to the fact that they couldn't live the same way anymore.

"Stop muttering back there and get a room already, shesh," Yusuke expressed as he looked back towards the two of them.

"Why would we need a room?" Piper questioned back up right as Kuwabara started a verbal spat with Yusuke. Something about how ' _men don't say things like that_ ' or something along that nature.

The redhead firmly attached to Piper's hand didn't look her way as he answered in a calm, collected tone, "It's an expression that one often teases those who are displaying intimacies in public. Usually intended with the implication that someone expects that the two being intimate to engage in sexual relations once behind closed doors."

Well he wasn't entirely _wrong_ with his implications. Although Piper knew that she should put a stop to any more engaging actions at this point. The fact that she was getting much better meant that you would be able to uphold her promise. It also meant that she would need to find a way to separate herself from Kurama. Which was already hard as it was. If he felt blindsided by a separation it was going to be harder to do. Weening herself off of his affection was the safer route. Of course, that was assuming he would let her. Given everything that she knew about him and had witnessed of the new version of him so far that was an improbability. Still, she could endeavor to reduce the sexual implications or implicit promises.

If he noticed how lost in thought the displaced woman was after his seemingly simple explanation to Yusuke's statement, Kurama said nothing about it. In fact, the whole air seemed to change as he watched Yusuke and Kuwabara start to engage in a bit of a spat over Yusuke's language. Watching the redhead smile in amusement was pretty much contagious though Piper tried not to make that too apparent. In that moment she realized that the whole reattachment thing was a bitch because no matter how much she fought against it, Piper knew it was happening anyways. And it was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done to walk away. She just knew it. Which meant that she would need to do it sooner rather than later.

As though he sensed her thoughts, Kurama's hand slowly untangled itself from hers and wrapped itself around her. His hand rested on her opposite hip and she had no illusion to the fact that despite how lose it seemed to be now, if she tried moving away it was going to instinctively tighten.

The redheaded avatar spoke up, though it wasn't directly intended to stop the bickering boys, "May I suggest we start back into the town before it starts raining?"

Piper nodded as she looked up. The clouds did look dark and judging by the way that they'd been kind of hovering for the last hour there was no doubt that it would start raining soon.

"Yes we need a few rooms please," Kurama spoke out smoothly to the owner of the establishment.

Due to the small amount of squabbling that had taken place after Yusuke's comment, they had all missed the last ferry back to the mainland. It would have been difficult to make it back to the mainland by swimming given the way that society was set up, or so Kurama had tried to explain. It had been both amusing and confusing to see why Yusuke and Kuwabara had been surprised that she'd brought up getting back without the boat. Apparently that thing had just never crossed their mind. As soon as Yusuke had understood what she was talking about he'd muttered something about _'just as bad as the old woman'_ or something along those lines. It made her curious over who the old woman he was referring to was.

"We only have three rooms available, sir," the owner of the bed and breakfast said in a gracious, very polite tone.

"That will be fine," Kurama said in return. "My wife and I will share one of the rooms."

Though she hadn't understood the term he'd used (wife) right away, it wasn't hard to guess at the meaning. Especially when Kuwabara started stuttering at it and asking him when he'd gotten married. That was when Piper realized exactly what Kurama had said though she'd made no move to dismiss it. All societies that she'd gone to over the years had issues with non-ceremonially-bound males and females sharing a room. Which was exactly why she didn't say a thing as Kurama took care of all the necessary details.

At the end he'd even managed to get clothing on loan from the accommodating host. It had been a while since Piper had worn a true yukata, she'd gotten used to a modified version mixed with some chinese influence. Thankfully it was a lot comfier than the traditional clothing of most European nations that she'd been used to prior to waking up. Of course they weren't immediately delivered over as the host had to go and retrieve them first but it was the thought that counted.

What wasn't as comfortable was the size of a room with all of them inside of it. With the low sitting table and two chairs placed on the ground, there wasn't much room left to do anything. The bedding had yet to be pulled down and made, of course, so at least there was enough room to sit down. But that was about it. So despite the fact that the Yusuke and Kuwabara were trying to be quiet, Piper could hear them very clearly.

"When did you get married?" Kuwabara demanded from Kurama.

"Yeah, and how come you didn't tell us?" Yusuke added in with his eyes narrowing.

Kurama and Piper shared a look. She shrugged and motioned towards the two others as she leaned back against the wall. The medium let Kurama take the lead on what he was going to say because they were his friends. Besides, the questions were mostly directed at him. Most likely for the former reason as well.

"I haven't," Kurama answered simply.

"But you told them that she was your wife," Kuwabara pointed out.

"I did."

"So you were lying?" the orange haired man followed up.

"Not exactly," Kurama admitted mildly.

"What are you talking about? You either are or you aren't married," Yusuke butted in as he looked between the woman and the slightly amused avatar.

"She is my wife in all ways that count," the redhead replied calmly.

Piper felt a twinge at that. It might have been true at one time but she wasn't sure it that was going to continue to be true. After all, she was still planning on leaving. But Piper had to admit that as of right now she'd given him little reason to doubt the relationship even with the subtle changes that had to be made. Of course she'd told him multiple times that she was going back to demon world but one did not achieve what he'd achieved over the years without being stubborn and strong headed; traits which she shared even if she didn't admit it.

"But you've never actually gotten married," Yusuke pointed out in a slightly smug type of tone.

"We've participated in as many private ceremonies," with that sentence you realized that Kurama was having fun with it. His friends, however, were not.

Putting her hand on his shoulder, Piper drew his attention and leveled him with an admonishing stare. The unabashed expression she'd gotten in return was enduring but she knew that if she wanted to get to sleep tonight, then she needed to settle this topic. Neither Kuwabara nor Yusuke seemed like the type of people to let something go until they got all their answers.

"I was born a human, at the time Kurama had not," Piper started out although that should have been obvious. Still, she was trying to make this as simple for them to understand as she could. Which was why Piper had paused to try and find the words without giving away everything. "In non-human societies we would have been considered to have been married. But by human laws and traditions, we could not marry. Regardless, for all intents and purposes I was his wife for around three thousand years."

Kurama shifted beside her at the tense that she'd used in her speech. Piper watched as Yusuke's attention darted towards him as well as he picked up on that. The both of them stayed quiet as their friend digested all the information you'd given.

"So...did you guys ever have kids?"

Despite how innocently that'd come out of Kuwabara's mouth, the brunette instantly closed her own. The air shifted from light and teasing to tense. It was definitely a topic that had been contested silently for the longest time before she'd gone into a coma. It wasn't exactly something that she'd ever fought him on; it had never actually been brought up other than a few occasions. The idea of settling down enough to have children just had never fit into what Kurama had wanted back when he'd been a fox spirit and she'd accepted that. It just had been one of the things she had given up and waited for him to be ready for. Over two-thousand and five hundred years was a long time to wait, though.

"No we did not," Kurama answered in what seemed to be an unperturbed tone.

"Why not?" Kuwabara's question felt like a bulging ram. "Didn't you want them?"

"I did," Piper answered honestly, causing the tenseness in the room to escalate. "It was never the right time based on the lifestyle we lived. Children were a liability without a secured territory."

It was words that had been said in the rare moments that such a topic had been brought up. As such when she repeated them they were more monotone than anything else. Thankfully such a topic was instantly cut off when Kuwabara realized how personal he was getting in such a short time. Most likely it was his spirit awareness finally kicking in and making him notice just how thick the tension had gotten. Piper's expression had stilled much like one might expect of someone about to go into a fight, but mostly because she didn't want them to see how awkward it was talking about such a thing. One would have thought that the topic would have been exhausted after how long she'd lived with Kurama. It was not; it had been a rare one actually as she'd never really wanted to broach the topic. Piper figure that once he was ready, she would know as she'd get pregnant. That had never happened. She'd never even so much as got to adopt a child to finally just have _someone_ else close to her.

"Uh, I'm going to go see if there's any snacks," Kuwabara said almost abruptly. "Come on Yusuke, let's see if there are any stores open."

And that was exactly how the two boys left - awkward.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: This progresses the plot in no way, shape, or form. It's kind of a smutty day in the life bit. Currently writing the next chapter.

 **Raised**

 _ **Chapter Seventeen**_

The apartment had been just how They had left it upon returning. The dirty laundry had been folded nicely waiting to be washed and dried, which left the bedroom feeling a little bare. Of course, that sparked another lesson about a machine that almost washed fabric by itself. Piper listened intently as Kurama explained the different settings and all the little knobs and symbols but really, it seemed overly complicated. She could understand the difference between needing to cater to delicate constructions and everything else but after that all the settings rang a note about how humans over complicated things that were quite simple. Or at least that's what it felt like to her. Thankfully having them dry by hanging them over the basin known as the tub was a much easier concept. And Piper did like the device that helped to take the water out of the air when the door was closed. That was something that the apartment came with apparently, which was a wonder of the world all on it's own. The true wonder, however, would have to be how humans died of _anything_ other than murder and old age with all of these little things right at their fingertips now a days.

As she leaned back onto the couch, Piper briefly pinched the bridge of her nose. It was starting to feel tight, like she'd gotten far too much dirt or pollen up there. Which wasn't true. Even as she removed the outwardly applied pressure, it still felt tight. So she tried to distract herself by reading. The buzz that seemed to be a staple in the human world was distracting in its subtle hints. Despite how quiet everything seemed it was still _loud_ in a way that she couldn't quite understand. Apparently it was something to do with electricity and Piper assumed that most people were just so used to it that the buzz or hum faded passed their conscious perception. Unfortunately she still were not used to it.

The brunette turned on the television and using the small black box that controlled it, she found the station that Kurama had shown her played traditional japanese instruments on. The sound of the koto, even as low of a sound as she had it set, was much more preferable to the white noise of modernity. Once that was set up she lost yourself in thought as she picked up the next in the encyclopedia series that she had dedicated much of her recovery time to. There was so much to learn if the woman wanted to be able to function for in either worlds. It was just that this one that humans had built up seemed to operate on much more complicated rules and structures, with so much more base knowledge that was taken for granted.

At least demon world still lived by simple rules; might makes right being the primary one that everyone adhered to. There might have been a king but he'd still been chosen by the amount of might he'd displayed which was nothing like how modern 'politicians' played it out. They may have thought themselves removed from the past from what Piper had read in the books but she doubted human nature had changed much. They may claim to try to serve the people but she severely doubted that it was their only goal. These politicians no doubt still vied for the attention of those above them in station, or those richer than them. That's how it had always been even for those who were decent people.

When Piper flipped to the next page she felt a weight settle on her lap. Kurama had a book of his own he was reading but unlike her, he made no attempt at staying upright. In fact, she had to say that he looked far comfier than she did with how he'd crossed one of his legs over his knee. The ancient medium shifted a little bit so that she was at an angle with the corner of the couch, jostling Kurama around only for a moment before settling back down. As time slipped through the pages of the book, Piper idly played with his hair. It was, after all, forming a nest of warmth on her lap which just begged to be disturbed. Besides the fact that she would have done it regardless there was also the newness that came with this form of his. Granted that her recovery time with him was drawn out to the point that if she had really wanted to, she could probably just go back to demon world with how much time she'd wasted in the human world. But it was nothing on the millenia that she'd spent with him in another form.

On a spiritual level he felt different, similar enough to know it was him easily but there was still the human element laced in with his fox spirit energy. On a physical level there were just a lot of differences. They weren't better or worse by any means, just different. Or so she kept trying to tell herself. While Piper had Kurama all to herself, there was no doubt about that, she missed Youko Kurama. Truth was that despite how much he wanted to pretend that it could all just continue, the man laying on her lap was practically a new person. He was more like an offspring or better yet a completely realized reincarnation given that he was, in essence, an avatar in his own right. And that was a sort of splitting hair distinction that was painful to contemplate even if it was the sort of pain that she'd never share with him.

With a bit of surprise, the brunette woman looked down at her fingers and realized that she'd hit a tangle. Somehow that was a laughable concept. It wasn't like she'd never felt them in his hair before she'd been locked away but they'd been a rare obstacle. Kurama might not seem it in the midst of battle but he was a very vain creature indeed. That vanity probably stemmed from his tendency to want to be able to plan everything down to the last detail, which included how he composed himself. It was a trait that seemed to have carried over to his human form as well, something which she'd noticed that the human culture around him was big on promoting.

As Piper worked through the tangle she felt Kurama reach up and trail his fingers down her arm, sending goosebumps along the way. His slowly disentangled her fingers from his hair, bringing them down his face. She felt his lips press into the side of each one ever so tenderly as he set his book on the ground. Warm lips brushed up against the pad of each finger, skimmed over the junction, and trailed to her wrist. Her pulse was steady under his mouth even as she tried to feign disinterest. Well, it wasn't so much as feigning disinterest as trying to convince herself that she shouldn't pay attention.

Piper had made a promise that she was going to return to Demon World once you was completely better. That meant that she needed to distance herself from Kurama. He made it damnably hard to want to keep her word with the smallest of things. But she resolved herself with the simplist of things - this was no longer her world and it hadn't been for a long time, being the most prominent of reasons. The fact that he betrayed her by working for Spirit World was another great reason. No matter how tender, helpful, or arousing he was...he was not the same man that Piper remembered. And that's what she tried to keep in mind.

Kurama turned more on his side as he gently pulled at her arm, his tongue flicking out to trace the blue veins that ran down. He stopped at her elbow, nibbling at the sensitive skin, before rising up in a half seated position to continue. Despite the fact that he was peppering his way up her body with warm, affectionate kisses, Piper continued to keep her breathing regulated and eyes on the page. She even made sure to move them as though to read the text appropriately, going slow enough to make it seem like she was still trying to digest the information. Piper knew that her seemingly disinterested might spur him but at the same time it wasn't like she could exactly just give in to the mutual feeling without at least _trying_ to refrain. He might not have had such a restriction placed on his affections, his desires, but she was trying to reign hers in if only to spare the both of them pain later on.

Kurama, however, was going to have none of that. In seemingly one quick motion he had her complete attention. How you may wonder? Well that was rather simple. He'd slipped to the floor on his knees, put both of her legs over his shoulder, and pressed his tongue into her folds without even giving Piper time to to move away. She gripped the book tightly in her hand, the whole preamble of pretending to read was simply gone. Kurama used his hold on her thighs to pull her body into a slight angle as he pressed his advantage. Almost instantly Piper's breathing became deeper, picking up pace as he did.

He wasn't simply happy to bring her to the height and let her slip into the warmth that followed. Oh no. He kept her from that, making her teeter right at the top and holding her there until she felt like her body was going to snap. Piper didn't need to exchange any words with him to know why…he wanted to torture her a little bit.

The pleasurable torture served it's purpose; it was a reminder that he would not be ignored.

When she'd finally breathed out his name as she gripped whatever felt comfortable at the time, he'd deemed it acceptable to end her suffering. As the aftermath warmed and relaxed every bone in her body, she tried to glare at him. Really she did. Unfortunately the fox in the hen coupe look in his eyes was well justified.

The sound of the washing machine finishing with that little buzz it made, made Piper look at the redhead intensely. A shiver raced down her spine as the thought seemed to be transmitted between their eyes. Though who had it first would be up for contention. Kurama picked her up still in a mostly seated position, legs still draped over his shoulders, and carried her over towards that machine. It was useless to try and protest against something when her heart wasn't in on the protest anyways, so she didn't even bother.

By the end of the day, Piper realized what the joke Yusuke had made during the trip meant. The apartment had finally been broken in.


End file.
